The Lusoponte Concession : case study : net present value of government transfers and risk allocation analysis

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to present a case-study on the Lusoponte Concession providing an analysis of the evolution of risk allocation and Net Present Value of Government Transfers. Since the 90’s, Portugal has been experiencing an increase in the number of PPP contracts. Road concessions compose a large percentage of this number and the Lusoponte Concession among them, has been a source of concern by the government. Successive Financial Rebalance Agreements, calculation of direct compensations, use of the Base Case, Imbalance in negotiating positions and evolution of the risk allocation are some of the reasons for a further analysis of this concession. Methodology: This paper is structured in two major categories: 1. description of the concession contract and the Finance Rebalance Agreements and 2. analysis of the NPV of Government Transfers and Evolution of Risk Allocation. Findings: This paper concludes that due to the first alterations to the initial contract (increase in toll fares and non-payment of toll fares in August) there is a strong imbalance in the current risk allocation in the Lusoponte Concession and that the government is currently the largest contributor to the financing of the project through the Direct and Indirect compensations it granted to Lusoponte. Limitations: The conclusions of this paper are based on Reports by Tribunal de Contas that lack data and explanations that would enrich the analysis of risk allocation and NPV of government transfers. The extinction of the GATTEL is also a lost source of information regarding the Lusoponte Concession. Originality/Value: This paper contains a further analysis of the risk allocation of the most recent FRA (FRA VI – 2008) and a detailed explanation of the Lusoponte Case, namely the Financial Rebalance Agreements. It also provides a comparison of the NPV of government transfers to the initial funding of the construction of Ponte Casco da Gama which provides original conclusions on the governments’ role in this concession

“IURISPRUDENTIA” VERSUS “CIÊNCIA DO DIREITO”: O FIM DA CONSTITUCIONALIZAÇÃO/CODIFICAÇÃO DO DIREITO É CONDIÇÃO DE SOBREVIVÊNCIA DO JURÍDICO?

Hoje as constituições e os códigos continuam a ser identificados com o Direito. A codificação, pela sistematicidade normativa que possibilita, aparece na base da construção do Direito como uma ciência. Ora, além do anacronismo, a sistematicidade/cientificidade do Direito nega a sua raiz/matriz romano-clássica (iurisprudentia), antes da deriva estóica/retórica (Cícero) e didáctica (Gaio) do ius Romanum ter levado à sua codificação e uniformização imperial. O Direito jurisprudencial romano mostra que o sistema não é “a forma específica do ser do Direito” (não é inerente à ideia de direito). Os jurisprudentes são essencialmente práticos, no sentido que a sua meta é a de arranjar soluções justas para resolver conflitos

AS LIÇÕES DE GIORGIO AGAMBEN SOBRE O POLÍTICO-JURÍDICO EM FACE À PANDEMIA: PROPOSTA PARA UM MODO DE SER DO EXISTENTE RESSURRETO

Objetivo: Objetiva-se desenvolver algumas das categorias exploradas por Agamben em suas obras no contexto atual de pandemia. Diante da arqueologia como método incorporado em seu estudo, o texto aprofundará o sentido da vida no coevo, máxime a rarefação ao puramente biológico que a define, inaugurando uma cultura difusa de zoé qualificada, cujo caris é de declínio absoluto da dimensão política e poiética. Paralelamente, para garantir a jaula que enclausura o modus vivendi, a cultura alinhava o modelo jurídico com propensão ao pragmatismo e autopoiese sistêmica, a um só tempo prevenindo e arrastando às soluções prêt-a-porter, fiando-se na linguagem apocalíptica do final dos tempos e no salvacionismo vindouro. A truculência da política e do direito vão minguando o sentido da existência à pura sobrevivência. Um modo de ser gravita no tempo do Messias possibilitando a intuição da Lei do Cristo, uma regra de vida que vai restringindo o direito ao caris natural e excepcional, profanando o dispositivo de captura.Metodologia: Utiliza-se o método lógico-dialético, onde se busca a realização de uma conexão entre as iminentes reflexões deixadas pelo cenário pandêmico e as relações político-jurídicas.Resultados: As adversidades demonstradas na pandemia contribuem para uma necessidade de reflexão e remolde do indivíduo, uma reinvenção em sua personalidade atingindo também a esfera judicial.Contribuição: Remete-se à necessidade de uma reanálise do indivíduo em face da crise sanitária e também na esfera político-jurídica; demonstra-se como necessárias as reflexões acerca da ausência de subjetivismo e sentimentos.Palavras-chave: Vida nua; Direito; Pandemia; Intuição; Regra de vida           ABSTRACTObjective: The aim is to develop some of the categories explored by Agamben in his works in the current context of the pandemic. Faced with archeology as a method incorporated in its study, the text will deepen the meaning of life in the coeval, maximizing the rarefaction to the purely biological that defines it, inaugurating a diffuse culture of qualified zoe, whose curis is one of absolute decline in the political and poietic dimension. At the same time, to guarantee the cage that encloses the modus vivendi, the culture aligned the legal model with a propensity for pragmatism and systemic autopoiesis, at the same time preventing and dragging to ready-to-wear solutions, relying on the apocalyptic language of the end of times and in the coming salvationism. The brutality of politics and law diminishes the meaning of existence to pure survival. A way of being gravitates in the time of the Messiah, enabling the intuition of the Law of Christ, a rule of life that restricts the right to natural and exceptional caris, profaning the device of capture.Methodology: The logical-dialectical method used seeks to establish a connection between the imminent reflections left by the pandemic scenario and the political-legal relations.Results: The adversities demonstrated in the pandemic contribute to a need for reflection and reshaping of the individual, a reinvention of his personality, also reaching the judicial sphere.Contribution: Refers to the need for a reanalysis of the individual in the face of the health crisis and also in the political-legal sphere, it is shown as necessary reflections on the absence of subjectivism and feelings.Keywords: Naked life ; Law ; Pandemic ; intuition ; Rule of lif

VIOLÊNCIA DOMÉSTICA NA PANDEMIA E POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS DE ENFRENTAMENTO

RESUMO Objetivo: o objetivo deste artigo é demonstrar a imprescindibilidade de atuação mais incisiva da esfera governamental no enfrentamento à questão da violência contra a mulher no atual contexto da pandemia.Metodologia: utiliza-se, para o presente trabalho, o método qualitativo de pesquisa, com foco na análise de legislações, de doutrinas e de demais materiais bibliográficos referentes à temática abordada.Resultados: este estudo evidencia, ainda, que o cenário acarretado pelo COVID-19 gerou impactos que variam em conformidade com a condição peculiar e socioestrutural de cada local e de cada território. Observou-se, ademais, que um fenômeno mundialmente comum, que tem ocorrido em diversos locais, trata-se do aumento dos riscos que potencializam a violência doméstica e familiar contra as mulheres.Contribuições: a principal contribuição desta pesquisa consiste, portanto, em sinalizar que, a fim de se combater a reconhecida subnotificação intensificada pelo confinamento em virtude da atual conjuntura emergencial, tornou-se imperiosa a implementação de políticas públicas, bem como a promulgação de significativas leis em defesa dos direitos humanos fundamentais da mulher, da criança, do adolescente e de idosos no contexto familiar, por parte dos órgãos governamentais, em todas as esferas.Palavras-chave: Violência doméstica. Pandemia. Políticas públicas. ABSTRACTObjective: the purpose of this article is to demonstrate the necessity for more incisive action by the government sphere in addressing the issue of violence against women in the current context of the pandemic.Methodology:  The qualitative research method is used, with a focus on the analysis of laws, doctrine and other bibliographic materials co-related.Results: This review also shows that the scenario caused by COVID-19 caused sundry impacts according to the peculiar and socio-structural condition of each location and territory. In addition, it was observed that a worldwide common phenomenon, which has occurred in several places, is the increase in risks that enhance domestic and family violence against women.Contributions: The main contribution of this research, therefore, consists in signaling that, in order to combat the recognized underreporting intensified by confinement due to the current emergency situation, the implementation of public policies, as well as the enactment of significant laws in defense, became imperative. the fundamental human rights of women, children, teenagers and the elderly in the family context by government agencies in all spheres.Keywords: Domestic violence. Pandemic. Public policy

Long-term outcomes of the global tuberculosis and COVID-19 co-infection cohort

Background: Longitudinal cohort data of patients with tuberculosis (TB) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are lacking. In our global study, we describe long-term outcomes of patients affected by TB and COVID-19. Methods: We collected data from 174 centres in 31 countries on all patients affected by COVID-19 and TB between 1 March 2020 and 30 September 2022. Patients were followed-up until cure, death or end of cohort time. All patients had TB and COVID-19; for analysis purposes, deaths were attributed to TB, COVID-19 or both. Survival analysis was performed using Cox proportional risk-regression models, and the log-rank test was used to compare survival and mortality attributed to TB, COVID-19 or both. Results: Overall, 788 patients with COVID-19 and TB (active or sequelae) were recruited from 31 countries, and 10.8% (n=85) died during the observation period. Survival was significantly lower among patients whose death was attributed to TB and COVID-19 versus those dying because of either TB or COVID-19 alone (p<0.001). Significant adjusted risk factors for TB mortality were higher age (hazard ratio (HR) 1.05, 95% CI 1.03-1.07), HIV infection (HR 2.29, 95% CI 1.02-5.16) and invasive ventilation (HR 4.28, 95% CI 2.34-7.83). For COVID-19 mortality, the adjusted risks were higher age (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.02-1.04), male sex (HR 2.21, 95% CI 1.24-3.91), oxygen requirement (HR 7.93, 95% CI 3.44-18.26) and invasive ventilation (HR 2.19, 95% CI 1.36-3.53). Conclusions: In our global cohort, death was the outcome in >10% of patients with TB and COVID-19. A range of demographic and clinical predictors are associated with adverse outcomes

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI <18·5 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). For schoolaged children and adolescents, we report thinness (BMI <2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference) and obesity (BMI >2 SD above the median). Findings From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesit

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: setting the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others

Early mobilisation in critically ill COVID-19 patients: a subanalysis of the ESICM-initiated UNITE-COVID observational study

Background Early mobilisation (EM) is an intervention that may improve the outcome of critically ill patients. There is limited data on EM in COVID-19 patients and its use during the first pandemic wave. Methods This is a pre-planned subanalysis of the ESICM UNITE-COVID, an international multicenter observational study involving critically ill COVID-19 patients in the ICU between February 15th and May 15th, 2020. We analysed variables associated with the initiation of EM (within 72 h of ICU admission) and explored the impact of EM on mortality, ICU and hospital length of stay, as well as discharge location. Statistical analyses were done using (generalised) linear mixed-effect models and ANOVAs. Results Mobilisation data from 4190 patients from 280 ICUs in 45 countries were analysed. 1114 (26.6%) of these patients received mobilisation within 72 h after ICU admission; 3076 (73.4%) did not. In our analysis of factors associated with EM, mechanical ventilation at admission (OR 0.29; 95% CI 0.25, 0.35; p = 0.001), higher age (OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.98, 1.00; p ≤ 0.001), pre-existing asthma (OR 0.84; 95% CI 0.73, 0.98; p = 0.028), and pre-existing kidney disease (OR 0.84; 95% CI 0.71, 0.99; p = 0.036) were negatively associated with the initiation of EM. EM was associated with a higher chance of being discharged home (OR 1.31; 95% CI 1.08, 1.58; p = 0.007) but was not associated with length of stay in ICU (adj. difference 0.91 days; 95% CI − 0.47, 1.37, p = 0.34) and hospital (adj. difference 1.4 days; 95% CI − 0.62, 2.35, p = 0.24) or mortality (OR 0.88; 95% CI 0.7, 1.09, p = 0.24) when adjusted for covariates. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that a quarter of COVID-19 patients received EM. There was no association found between EM in COVID-19 patients' ICU and hospital length of stay or mortality. However, EM in COVID-19 patients was associated with increased odds of being discharged home rather than to a care facility. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04836065 (retrospectively registered April 8th 2021)