Scaling laws and universality in the choice of election candidates

Nowadays there is an increasing interest of physicists in finding regularities related to social phenomena. This interest is clearly motivated by applications that a statistical mechanical description of the human behavior may have in our society. By using this framework, we address this work to cover an open question related to elections: the choice of elections candidates (candidature process). Our analysis reveals that, apart from the social motivations, this system displays features of traditional out-of-equilibrium physical phenomena such as scale-free statistics and universality. Basically, we found a non-linear (power law) mean correspondence between the number of candidates and the size of the electorate (number of voters), and also that this choice has a multiplicative underlying process (lognormal behavior). The universality of our findings is supported by data from 16 elections from 5 countries. In addition, we show that aspects of network scale-free can be connected to this universal behavior.Comment: Accepted for publication in EP

Conhecimento, inovação e emprego

"Numa região pequena, geograficamente dispersa e ultra-periférica, onde quase tudo é limitado, o desempenho intelectual e a capacidade de adquirir conhecimento dos seus cidadãos, e portanto inovar, não deve ser restringida. Assim, uma reflexão, mesmo que superficial, sobre a constante turbulência verificada na Ciência e na Tecnologia, permite concluir que uma revisão da oferta de formação e emprego é imperativa. […]"

Conhecimento, inovação e emprego

"Numa região pequena, geograficamente dispersa e ultra-periférica, onde quase tudo é limitado, o desempenho intelectual e a capacidade de adquirir conhecimento dos seus cidadãos, e portanto inovar, não deve ser restringida. Assim, uma reflexão, mesmo que superficial, sobre a constante turbulência verificada na Ciência e na Tecnologia, permite concluir que uma revisão da oferta de formação e emprego é imperativa. […]"

On the dynamics of bubbles in boiling water

We investigate the dynamics of many interacting bubbles in boiling water by using a laser scattering experiment. Specifically, we analyze the temporal variations of a laser intensity signal which passed through a sample of boiling water. Our empirical results indicate that the return interval distribution of the laser signal does not follow an exponential distribution; contrariwise, a heavy-tailed distribution has been found. Additionally, we compare the experimental results with those obtained from a minimalist phenomenological model, finding a good agreement.Comment: Accepted for publication in Chaos, Solitons & Fractal

Portuguese airport efficiency analysis: the case study of Oporto

The Oporto Airport located in the northern region in Porto city is crucial because is the only one located in the northern region. This airport had an increasing in number of passengers, sales revenue and accumulated investment during the last two decades, principally after the introduction and the operation of the Low Cost Companies since 2004 to the present. In order to determine if the last changes had an impact in the competitiveness of this airport, the main aims is to analise the evolution of values of the technical efficiency and equate the results before and after the introduction of the LCCs in this airport. The methodology uses the Data Envelopment Analysis. Results show that the Oporto Airport efficiency increases highly after the introduction of LCCs since 2004. The main conclusions suggest the importance of the introduction of LCCs in the increasing efficiency of the Oporto Airport and the potential relation with tourism development in this region, but more strong studies are needed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Wireless interface for sensors in smart textiles

This paper describes a smart suit with sensors and electronics for monitoring patients at hydrotherapy sessions in swimming-pools. The smart suit allows the monitoring of the heart rate, patient posture and activity level. The sensors input are converted in a PWM using a V-F converter. A robust, low-voltage (3.0 V) and low-power electronic wireless CMOS RF interface was implemented at 433 MHz using ASK modulation.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - (SFRH/BD/4717/2001, POCTI/ESE/38468/2001)

O impacto da emigração recente no número de nados-vivos em Portugal

A recente crise económica observada em Portugal não foi exclusiva do país e registou repercussões massivas a nível internacional. Desde 2008, em Portugal, registaram-se os mais variados cortes no investimento e despesa pública, resultando num grande aumento da taxa de desemprego. Realizaram-se algumas tentativas de minoração dos efeitos da crise económica com a institucionalização de medidas de austeridade como o Programa de Estabilidade e Crescimento (PEC), mas estas não evitaram a intervenção do Fundo Monetário Internacional (FMI), trazendo a Troika a Portugal (Alves, 2015; Ribeiro et al., 2015). Durante o seu período em Portugal (2011 – 2014), o país não conseguiu manter a capacidade para atrair novos residentes ou até de fazer regressar aqueles que tinham há muito saído em busca de melhores condições de vida, voltando a ser um país com forte emigração à semelhança do já observado no passado. Apesar desta emigração se dividir entre temporária e permanente, a verdade é que, muito provavelmente, alguns daqueles que pensaram sair do país apenas temporariamente, poderão passar a emigrantes permanentes

Hyperglycemia and Hyperinsulinemia-Like Conditions Independently Induce Inflammatory Responses in Human Chondrocytes

To elucidate the mechanisms by which type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM2) constitutes a risk factor for the development and progression of osteoarthritis (OA), this work determined whether high glucose and/or high insulin, the hallmarks of DM2, are capable of activating the transcription factor, Nuclear Factor-κB (NF-κB), which plays a critical role in OA by inducing the expression of pro-inflammatory and catabolic genes. For this, we analyzed NF-κB activation by measuring the nuclear levels of p65 by western blot. As readouts of NF-κB activity, Interleukin-1β, Tumor Necrosis Factor-α, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression were analyzed by real time RT-PCR and western blot. Culture of the human chondrocytic cell line, C28-I2, in high glucose (30 mM) increased nuclear NF-κB p65 levels in a time-dependent manner, relative to cells cultured in medium containing 10 mM glucose (regular culture medium). High glucose-induced NF-κB activation was inhibited by co-treatment with its specific inhibitor, Bay 11-7082, 5 µM. Culture of primary human chondrocytes under high glucose for 24 h increased IL-1β and TNF-α mRNA levels by 97% (p = 0.0066) and 85% (p = 0.0045), respectively, while iNOS mRNA and protein levels and NO production increased by 61% (p = 0.0017), 148% (p = 0.0089), and 70% (p = 0.049), respectively, relative to chondrocytes maintained in 10 mM glucose. Treatment of chondrocytic cells with 100 nM insulin was also sufficient to increase nuclear NF-κB p65 levels, independently of the glucose concentration in the culture medium. This study shows that hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia are independently sufficient to induce inflammatory responses in human chondrocytes, namely by activating NF-κB. This can be a relevant mechanism by which DM type 2 and other conditions associated with impaired glucose and insulin homeostasis, like obesity and the metabolic syndrome, contribute to the development and progression of OA.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio