A União Europeia na gestão de crises

A UE tem vindo progressivamente a definir e a alargar os campos de aplicação dos seus esforços, em especial na gestão de crises fora do seu espaço. Esta evolução tem sido condicionada pelas grandes evoluções internacionais dos últimos vinte anos, como sejam o fim da Guerra Fria e as ilusões de uma Nova Ordem Mundial, a incapacidade da ONU e da UE face ao estilhaçar da ex‑Jugoslávia, os ataques do 11 de Setembro, ou as alterações do Sistema Internacional devidas às intervenções no Iraque e no Afeganistão. Os mecanismos adoptados pela UE na Política Europeia de Segu‑ rança e Defesa (PESD) têm sido consequência da adaptação da agenda de construção da paz, muito em voga nos finais do Século, aos novos desafios do Milénio, cujas preocupações se desenvolvem agora à volta da agenda da “Estabilização”. A UE prepara‑se assim para desempenhar um legítimo papel como actor global

Africa development and the reinforcement of european security

Atualmente, as ameaças aos países africanos estão a ser, cada vez mais, materializadas menos pela intranquilidade civil do que por atividades criminosas e por organizações que esmagam as estruturas políticas, as instituições democráticas, a economia e o equilíbrio social das sociedades pós-coloniais, portanto negando-lhes condições de desenvolvimento. Este artigo argumenta que as atuais atividades transnacionais que têm lugar em África, para além de sufocarem os processos de desenvolvimento do continente, também afetam profundamente a segurança, tanto no continente como na Europa e ainda mais além. Fatores de insegurança, como as redes criminosas, encontram nesses países, mal e pobremente governados, as condições ideais para os seus quartéis-generais, pelo que o combate a essas ameaças, reforçando o ambiente de segurança, também apoiará os esforços para incrementar o desenvolvimento africano

A novel olfactory receptor gene family in teleost fish:phylogenomics, cellular localization and comparison with other olfactory receptor gene families

While for two of four mammalian olfactory receptor families, all of them G protein-coupled receptors, ortholog teleost families have been identified and well-characterized (OR and V2R), two other families (V1R and TAAR) lack to date a systematic study in non-mammalian vertebrates. By data mining I identified a total of six V1R-like genes in five teleost species plus four orthologs in one jawless and one cartilaginous fish species each. In the phylogenetic analysis these ora genes (olfactory receptor, class A-related) form a single clade with three subclades, one of them including the entire mammalian V1R superfamily. The Ora family originates early in the vertebrate lineage, before the separation of the jawless from jawed fish. A similar search was performed also for taar genes in genomes of five teleosts, two basal fish and seven higher vertebrates. Taar genes segregate into three classes and their family size ranges from 18 to 112 genes in teleosts (pufferfish and zebrafish, respectively), while mammalian families contain at most 19 genes (opossum). The TAAR family originated in the common ancestor of bony and cartilaginous fishes, after its divergence from jawless fish. In these and other properties the ora and taar gene families turn out to be at opposite poles of the spectrum of olfactory receptor families. All the six teleost Ora family members are evolutionarily much older than the speciation events in the teleost lineage, while most extant teleost taar genes have emerged late in evolution, well after the split between basal teleosts (zebrafish) and neoteleostei (stickleback, medaka, pufferfish). Taar genes are largely arranged according to phylogenetic proximity in two big clusters (both syntenic to the single sarcopterygian gene cluster), whereas the ora genes are organized as singletons or symmetrical gene pairs. TAAR genes are mostly monoexonic, whereas two ora genes exhibit a highly conserved multi-exonic structure. Furthermore, the ora genes are under strong negative selection (minute dN/dS values), whereas the teleost taar genes display a relaxed pattern of global negative selection and an unprecedented degree of local positive selection. Taken together, the ora gene repertoire is highly conserved across teleosts, in striking contrast to the frequent species-specific expansions observed in mammalian V1Rs. The inverse is observed for the taar gene repertoire, which is rather conserved across mammalian species, but exhibits frequent and large species-specific expansions in teleosts. Thus, the transition from teleosts to tetrapods may parallel a transition in function as well as regulation of both the ora/V1R and TAAR gene families. Consistent with a function as olfactory receptors all zebrafish ora and all analyzed taar genes (except taar1) were expressed in sparse subsets of olfactory receptor neurons. The olfactory epithelium contains three subtypes of olfactory receptor neurons, ciliated, microvillous and crypt cells, the latter so far without known receptors, but with both cilia and microvilli. I found the ora genes to be expressed in the crypt cells, thereby deorphanizing this third type of OSN. Furthermore, the ora genes follow the monogenic rule of expression previously reported for members of other olfactory receptor gene families. Ora genes co-express both Gαi and Gαo, supporting the hypothesis that crypt cells might possess two distinct olfactory signaling pathways, one via their cilia and the other via microvilli

Discusiones epistemológicas en torno a la cientificidad de la Archivología

This research is based on the premise that the strategies raised in defending the scientific status of the archival science are poorly made. It will not reach a status of science through the strategies of establishing paradigms, an object, a method, a purpose and a terminological consensus inside the field. But its scientific must be based before in the expansion of its theoretical and methodological elements. The archival discipline in their aspirations of clarify their scientific claims is immersed in ongoing epistemological debate. Under these debate is that has sought to apply the classical models of the philosophy of science emerged in the 20th century, such as the models of the Vienna Circle, Feyerabend, Lakatos, Popper, Kuhn, etc Among These studies, are stand out the efforts made by the authors, to consolidate the scientific discipline from the model of Thomas S. Kuhn. These positions, developed inside the field, are discussed in the present investigation So, is presented the discussion in lathe to the question about whether the establishment of paradigms, object, method and purpose, and a terminological consensus of the archival discipline, is essential to clarify their scientific claims. For this, it carries out a brief historical review of the evolution of the field, and a review of the literature on the different existing positions within the discipline, when it comes to substantiate its scientific status. Identifying three main argumentative lines: the identification of the archival discipline paradigms; the establishment of the method, the object and purpose; and the terminology within the archival discipline. Of the issues raised above, is that, the majority positions within the archival discipline, subscribe to the idea that it is imperative to establish some of the three aforementioned argumentative lines to consolidate itself as a science. Therefore the basis of epistemological analysis of this work is to use some of the arguments provided by Thomas S. Kuhn, in order to identify and elucidate the problems that take place within the archival discipline, when implementing its claims of scientific. Finally, it is considered that the establishment of paradigms, an object, a method and a purpose, as well as terminological consensus within the discipline, is not necessary to determine the scientific area. At the same time, it means wrong to resort to philosophical models to clarify the scientific status of the discipline, as sciences that have been consolidated, have not done so using these strategies, but by the establishment of a successful tradition of solving problems

Os principios mathematicos de José Anastácio da Cunha (1744-1787)

Este texto pretende dar uma visão de conjunto sobre a vida e a obra maior do matemático José Anastácio da Cunha (1744-1787), os Princípios Mathematicos, livro que completou pouco antes de falecer, mas que já não teve oportunidade de rever. Anastácio da Cunha surge na cena matemática portuguesa numa época crucial para a cultura e ciência portuguesas, com a reforma pombalina da Universidade em 1772, que se segue a cerca de duzentos anos de estagnação e mediocridade, e com a fundação da Academia das Ciências de Lisboa em 1779. Pode ser dito que a matemática portuguesa produzida a partir dessa época derivou destes dois actos. Salientaremos como a educação de José Anastácio, primeiro com os Oratorianos, e depois com os oficiais do Regimento de Artilharia do Porto foi importante na sua formação cultural e científica e no ensino que ministrou enquanto na Universidade de Coimbra. Explicitar-se-á o modo como Anastácio da Cunha aplicou os princípios da reforma no seu ensino, baseando-nos no texto da reforma da Universidade e num texto seu na polémica que manteve no fim da sua vida com Monteiro da Rocha (1734-1819). Será também dada uma perspectiva geral sobre os princípios mathematicos, mostrando como Anastácio da Cunha pode ser considerado um precursor da reforma da análise matemática que veio a ocorrer no século XIX por matemáticos como Cauchy, Gauss e Bolzano. O procedimento metodológico seguido é o usual em pesquisadores de história da matemática: privilegia-se a utilização de fontes primárias, cruza-se a informação derivada de fontes primárias e secundárias

Treino da resistência psicológica na recruta militar em Portugal: o papel da coesão militar, da autoestima e da ansiedade na resiliência

The present study aims to explore the impact of military training on the psychological resilience of army recruits; the moderator role of other variables relevant for the military training (namely, group cohesion, self-esteem, and anxiety proneness) is also considered. A convenience sample of 104 military recruits was evaluated before and after the first six weeks of the Enlisted Basic General Military training. Although results showed a non significant global effect of the recruit training on resilience, individual changes in resilience levels between the beginning and the final of the training period seem to be moderately associated with participants' self-esteem and group cohesion perception. The results are discussed regarding to their implications in military training context.Este trabalho investiga o impacto do processo de treino militar de resistência psicológica na resiliência dos recrutas, considerando o papel moderador da coesão de grupo militar, da autoestima e da predisposição para a ansiedade. Uma amostra de conveniência de 104 militares foi avaliada antes e depois do Curso de Formação Geral Comum dos Praças do Exército Português, seguindo um desenho metodológico de medidas repetidas. Os resultados revelam que, embora não se possa atribuir ao processo de recruta alterações significativas nos níveis globais de resiliência, as variações individuais observadas na resiliência entre o início e o final da recruta se associam moderadamente à autoestima e à perceção da coesão do grupo. Estes resultados são discutidos quanto às implicações no contexto do treino militar. Palavras-chave: resiliência, coesão de grupo militar, autoestima, ansiedade, treino militar.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [FCT UID/PSI/00050/2013]; EU FEDER e COMPETE [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007294]

Reliability and construct validity of the test of gross motor development-2 in portuguese children

The use of several different assessment motor tools make difficult to make comparisons of childhood motor competence across countries. Although the Test Gross Motor Development 2 (TGMD-2) is one of the most used instruments for assessing motor competence, its validation for Portuguese population is needed. The aim of the article is to examine the psychometric proprieties of the TGMD-2, using a Portuguese sample. Totally 330 children aged 5–10 years were assessed with TGMD-2. Cronbach’s alpha assessed internal consistency. Test–retest reliability was estimated with the Bland–Altman method. Construct validity was assessed by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The hypothesised model used 12 items and 2 factors: object control and locomotor skills. The test–retest reliability analysis was good, with an agreement ratio of .96 (.09) for 12 skills. Cronbach’s alpha values showed acceptable internal consistency (.69 for 12 items, .46 for locomotor skills, and .64 for object control skills). The results of the CFA [CFI = .956, NFI = .868, NNFI = .937, SRMR = .048, and RMSEA = .036 (90% CI: .010–.054)] support the two factor structure of the original version. Portuguese TGMD-2 version is a reliable and valid tool to assess the gross motor skills of Portuguese children aged 5–10 years.4811-99FE-2ECD | Luis Paulo RodriguesN/

Historiography of Mathematics in the Works of Rodolfo Guimarães

AbstractRodolfo Ferreira Dias Guimarães (1866–1918) was a leading historian of Portuguese mathematics. Having started his research career with papers on geometry, from 1900 onward he was mainly concerned with the history of Portuguese mathematics. He published a groundbreaking bibliography of Portuguese mathematical works, in accordance with the norms issued by the 1889 International Congress of Bibliography of Mathematical Sciences. This paper will analyze the various aspects of his activity as an historian of mathematics, including his commitment to the international community of mathematicians.Rodolfo Ferreira Dias Guimarães (1866–1918) était l'un des principaux historiens des mathématiques portugaises. Il a commencé sa carrière de chercheur sur des sujets de géométrie, et à partir de 1900 il s'est occupé principalement de l'histoire des mathématiques portugaises. Il a publié une innovatrice bibliographie des travaux mathématiques portugais, selon les normes du Congrès International de Bibliographie des Sciences Mathématiques (1889). Dans cet article seront analysés les différents aspects de son travail dans l'histoire des mathématiques, explicitant l'importance que pour lui avait la communauté internationale des mathématiciens.Rodolfo Ferreira Dias Guimarães (1866–1918) é um dos principais historiadores da Matemática Portuguesa. Os seus primeiros artigos de investigação incidiram sobre temas de Geometria, mas a partir de 1900 dedicou-se principalmente à História da Matemática Portuguesa, publicando uma inovadora Bibliografia dos trabalhos matemáticos portugueses, estabelecida de acordo com as normas do Congresso Internacional de Bibliografia das Ciências Matemáticas de 1889. Neste artigo serão analisados os vários aspectos da sua actividade de historiador da Matemática, explicitando a importância que para ele tinha a comunidade internacional dos matemáticos