Bivalence and the challenge of truth-value gaps

This thesis is concerned with the challenge truth-value gaps pose to the principle of bivalence. The central question addressed is: are truth-value gaps counterexamples to bivalence and is the supposition of counterexamples coherent? My aim is to examine putative cases of truth-value gaps against an argument by Timothy Williamson, which shows that the supposition of counterexamples to bivalence is contradictory. The upshot of his argument is that either problematic utterances say nothing, or they cannot be neither true nor false. I start by identifying truth-bearers: an utterance, for instance, is a truth-bearer if it says that something is the case. Truth-bearers are evaluable items, with truth- and falsity-conditions statable in corresponding instances of schemas for truth and falsehood. A genuine case of a truth-value gap should be an utterance that is neither true nor false but says something to be the case. But it is inconsistent to accept the schemas for truth and falsehood and the existence of genuine cases of truth-value gaps. Secondly, I expound Williamson’s argument, which explores this inconsistency, and I identify two kinds of strategy to disarm his argument: those that preserve the schemas for truth and falsehood, and those that do not. Neither strategy is found to be persuasive. Thirdly, I argue that cases of reference failure causing truth-value gaps illustrate the upshot of Williamson’s argument. Fourthly, I examine Scott Soames’s account of liar sentences as counterexamples to bivalence. Soames adopts a strategy of the first kind to avoid contradictions. I argue that his solution allows some contradictions to be true, and that he fails to show that liar sentences are truth-bearers. Finally, I examine Charles Travis’s case for isostheneia: an equal balancing of reasons to evaluate a statement as true or as false, in which case a statement is neither. Travis avoids contradictions by adopting a strategy of the second kind. I argue that the schemas for truth and falsehood are immune to Travis’s objections, and that isostheneia fails to identify evaluable items. The cases examined confirm that utterances that are neither true nor false say nothing. My claim is thus that truth-value gaps are not counterexamples to bivalence

Historic Gardens of Portugal: Qualification and Structuring of a New Touristic Offer

In historic gardens, natural and cultural heritage merge, claiming a unique position for conservation and maintenance. Historic gardens are places of memory that accumulate knowledge. Throughout human history, they have always been spaces for innovation serving as laboratories for scientific and technological advancements. They are particularly valuable when considering present day challenges such as climate change adaptation, namely for their selective use of vegetation where exotic and indigenous plant species coexist or for their distinguished management of water systems. Touristic demand for parks and gardens, whether historic or contemporary, has experienced significant expansion as places for visitors. However, historic gardens arise as a special appeal to those interested in heritage and require comprehensive visits that encompass ecology, history, art, botany, among others. Portugal has a remarkable number of historic gardens, whose existence and value is largely unknown by its community. On the other hand, tourism plays a key role in Portugal and the competitiveness of this sector is expected to remain high. As such, Turismo de Portugal, the tourism office of Portugal, is investing on the diversification and consolidation of the national offer. These circumstances let the Portuguese Association of Historic Gardens – AJH, to propose the Historic Gardens Route of Portugal as a new touristic offer capable of attracting and retaining visitors in an efficient, attractive, and sustainable manner. The developed methodology included, 1) the preparation of a revisited and updated inventory, 2) the creation of touristic routes of historic gardens and, 3) the certification through a Quality Label and 4) the promotion of marketable tourist packs. The current Historic Gardens Route of Portugal includes twelve touristic routes, comprising a total of 215 gardens (150 private and 65 public). In the course of these works, it is argued that AJH is promoting historic gardens of Portugal as spaces for living, contemplation, production, and enjoyment, recognizing their exceptional, fragile, and ephemeral values, through a particularly targeted touristic approach that offers another form of sustainable subsistence

Cartographies: artistic practices, school and communities

This communication presents the results of a work project carried out with students from higher, basic and secondary education, in close collaboration and as part of the research project - IMAGO MUNDI. In this scope, our project proposal was to develop arts practice based research processes, within the field of the visual arts, assuming as key concepts the ones of cartography and psychogeography. Departing from the mentioned concepts and aiming to address the links between school, artistic practices and community, a set of activities (as school subject or extracurricular in nature) were designed and carried out. Our aim was the development of creative processes, which, by means of arts practice-based research with and within the community, were able to assume the territory as its locus. Thus, enabling the construction of visions of the world from the experience (be it perceptive/sensory, social, cultural, emotional…) of the territory.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Four suspensions for transtibial prosthetics: a case-study

Objectives - The harmony between the residual limb and the prosthesis with an effective and comfortable suspension system allows the amputee to fully continue their daily living activities. With this study, the authors intended to measure gait efficiency and conclude whether the suspension systems tested differ in the various transtibial prostheses, based on the data provided by indirect calorimetry. Methodology - Functional performance that each suspension system allows will be approached by analyzing quantitative variables such as gait efficiency through indirect calorimetry using Lin-Chan protocols, which uses 5 different treadmill speeds. Results - Gait efficiency analysis of the four suspension systems (2 suction; 1 PIN; 1 VASS) showed that when comparing the four models, the most functional suspension system was the prosthesis with the active vacuum suspension system (VASS) with lower values for mlO2/kg/m and higher distance than other suspension systems. Conclusion - Differences in results of the tests carried out in the various suspension systems prove that indirect calorimetry is sensitive in the assessment of the identified variables and is a viable tool in the analysis of gait efficiency in amputees, proving that the VASS suspension system is what presents a greater efficiency in walking and so a higher functionality.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

BUBBLE-NET : system to catch fish and the respective method of use

Fishing is a socio-economic activity of great relevance worldwide. However the environmental sustainability of the fishing gears is far from being effective. It is necessary to find more selective types of fishing to ensure sustainable catches of target species and also to protect other organisms accidentally caught with no commercial value. The answer to these problems arises, often, from the nature itself, as in the case of bubble net feeding, the feeding behavior of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaengliae). These whales trap the school of fish surrounding them with a wall of bubbles they send by the blowhole (Leighton et al, 2004) (Johson et al, 1984), (fig. 1). Thus, we are developing a device that mimics the whale behavior. This device presents large environmental benefits such as the reduction of bycatch, the absence of ghost fishing, clean capture, that is the absence of human handling, and sustainable yield by allowing the capture of the legal quantities and sizes. There are also economic advantages, such as the reduction of fishing gear, increased device lifetime and reduction of maintenance cost associated

Violação masculina versus feminina: efeitos na resposta emocional subjetiva e psicofisiológica numa amostra feminina

Orientação: Joana CarvalhoA violência sexual tornou-se um dilema global da sociedade contemporânea. Revelou-se um crime de género, do qual as mulheres são desproporcionalmente vítimas e os homens maioritariamente os agressores. Tal evidência não anula a veracidade de que os homens também sofrem de vitimização sexual por parte das mulheres. Um dos aspetos pertinentes deste estudo, está relacionado com as elevadas taxas de atrito relativamente aos crimes sexuais, sobretudo quando estes são cometidos por mulheres contra homens. Considerando a pertinência da temática, o presente estudo teve como objetivo primordial contribuir para uma melhor compreensão deste fenómeno. Pretendemos verificar se existiu um efeito de género e do tipo de estímulo (violação contra homem versus violação contra mulher) na resposta emocional subjetiva e psicofisiológica, sendo que para tal avaliámos a dilatação pupilar recorrendo à técnica de Eye Tracking. A presente investigação provém de um estudo mais amplo, contudo a atual dissertação engloba apenas os dados da amostra feminina. Relativamente aos estímulos de violência sexual, as participantes apresentaram significativamente mais nervosismo face à exposição ao filme de violação de homem por uma mulher.Sexual violence has become a global dilemma of contemporary society. It has turned out to be a gender crime, of which women are disproportionately victims and men are mostly aggressors. Such evidence does not negate the veracity that men also suffer from sexual victimization by women. One of the relevant aspects of this study is related to the high rates of attrition in relation to sexual crimes, especially when committed by women against men. Considering the pertinence of the theme, the present study had as main objective to contribute to a better understanding of this phenomenon. We intend to verify if there is a gender effect and the type of stimulus (rape against man versus rape against woman) in the subjective and psychophysiological emotional response, and for this we evaluated the pupil dilation using the technique of Eye Tracking. The present investigation comes from a larger study, however the present dissertation only includes data from the female sample. Concerning sexual violence stimuli, the participants were significantly more nervous about exposure to the film of a man's rape by a woman

The Descriptive Complexity of the Deterministic Exponential Time Hierarchy

AbstractIn Descriptive Complexity, we investigate the use of logics to characterize computational complexity classes. Since 1974, when Fagin proved that the class NP is captured by existential second-order logic, considered the first result in this area, other relations between logics and complexity classes have been established. Well-known results usually involve first-order logic and its extensions, and complexity classes in polynomial time or space. Some examples are that the first-order logic extended by the least fixed-point operator captures the class P and the second-order logic extended by the transitive closure operator captures the class PSPACE. In this paper, we will analyze the combined use of higher-order logics of order i, HOi, for i⩾2, extended by the least fixed-point operator, and we will prove that each level of this hierarchy captures each level of the deterministic exponential time hierarchy. As a corollary, we will prove that the hierarchy of HOi(LFP), for i⩾2, does not collapse, that is, HOi(LFP)⊂HOi+1(LFP)

Choosing best components for an amputee: a methodology for the best decision-making

The harmony between the stump and the prosthesis is critical to allow it to fulfill its function enabling an efficient gait. A well fitted socket, with an efficient and comfortable suspension, allows the amputee to continue their daily living activities, maintaining the stump functional, making this correlation between socket and suspension very important in the functionality of the prosthesis, mobility and overall satisfaction with the device. Of our knowledge, the quantitative correlation between all of these factors as not yet been assessed. Aim of study: Verify and confirm the process of decision-making for four different trans-tibial prostheses with suspension systems: Hypobaric(A), PIN(B), Classic Suction(C) and Vacuum Active –VASS(D) according data provided by gait efficiency (mlO2/kg/m) imagiology (pistonning) and amputee perception

Willingness to pay in a differentiated private-label setting

Private-label has been emerging as a trend in consumer-packaged goods throughout the years. This is the outcome of the increasing demand for products with similar characteristics to the national brands at lower prices. As a consequence, retailers are facing a more competitive environment and therefore need to improve their positioning by offering a more complete product portfolio, targeting different consumer needs. This dissertation studies the impact of the three-tiered private-label portfolio strategy, consisting of economy, standard and premium stock-keeping units (SKUs), on consumer’s willingness to pay. Moreover, the mediator role of both perceived quality and brand image is analyzed through a serial mediation model. The experimental study is focused on the olive oil product category of Continente, a Portuguese food retailer. Respondents were exposed to one of the three SKUs and asked questions regarding perceived quality, brand image and willingness to pay. The findings of this research indicate no direct effect of the private-label tier on consumers’ willingness to pay. Nonetheless, perceived quality is identified as a complete mediator of the relationship between these two variables. On a complementary note, brand image does not have a significant impact on the dependent variable, willingness to pay.Ao longo dos últimos anos, as marcas próprias têm apresentado uma tendência de crescimento nos bens de consumo embalados. Este é o resultado de uma procura acrescida, por parte dos consumidores, de produtos com características semelhantes às marcas nacionais a preços reduzidos. Por conseguinte, o cenário competitivo tem vindo a intensificar-se, o que requer um melhor posicionamento por parte dos retalhistas. O principal objetivo consiste em oferecer um portfolio de produtos mais completo, com diferentes níveis, para diferentes necessidades dos consumidores. Esta dissertação estuda o impacto dos três níveis de marca própria, nomeadamente económico, standard e premium, na disponibilidade do consumidor para pagar. Para complementar a análise, os papéis da perceção de qualidade e da imagem da marca, como mediadores desta relação, são também incluídos neste estudo, através de um modelo de mediação em série. O estudo experimental investiga o efeito dos três níveis de marca própria no Continente, retalhista português, na categoria de produto de azeite. Os inquiridos foram expostos a um dos três estímulos, É Continente, Continente ou Continente Seleção, e responderam a questões relacionadas com a perceção de qualidade, imagem de marca e disponibilidade a pagar pelo produto. Os resultados deste estudo indicam que não existe um efeito direto dos diferentes níveis das marcas brancas na disponibilidade do consumidor para pagar. No entanto, a qualidade percecionada é identificada como um mediador completo da relação entre as duas variáveis em estudo, enquanto a imagem da marca não apresenta resultados significativos de impacto na variável dependente