The Starting Line: Examining Inequality in United States

A quote from Irving Kristol states: “Democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions - only equality of opportunity.” If Kristol’s quote holds true, do all American citizens have an equal chance of succeeding? This is the question that my project attempts to answer. In studying political science and following current events, I found myself drawn toward the issue of equality in the United States. The idea for my project was sparked by my encounters with research regarding inequality in our nation. I first became aware of the issue after reading Jonathan Kozol’s, Savage Inequalities, in which the extreme differences in public education were addressed. The item was again brought to my attention in my American Politics course, where I read that the likelihood of citizens to participate in politics was affected by socioeconomic status. Again, the issue was highlighted by the Occupy Wall Street movement, which protests the extreme wealth gap between the 99 percent of Americans and the wealthy 1 percent that controls a third of the nation’s wealth. The issue I wish to cover in my project is not new, but it is certainly ripe for discussion, especially with the state of our economy. The main goal of this multi-faceted project is to put a spotlight on the “American Dream.” While many studies and articles focus on the growing wealth gap, it is also pertinent to examine the ability for low-income citizens to climb the socioeconomic ladder. If all the wealth is concentrated at the top, can the average citizen still pull himself/herself up by his/her “bootstraps?” If a citizen of this democratic country is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, one must be given the chance to capitalize on individual abilities. In the United States, this generally requires a sound education, access to post-secondary education, financial support, and a voice in the political system. Utilizing journals, newspaper and magazine articles, government reports, and other informational hubs (e.g. Pew Research Center), I attempt to determine the life span of the American Dream through a series of academic publications. Each publication focuses on one aspect of equality, e.g. socioeconomic status, quality of education, access to political participation, etc. I demonstrate that equality can be thought of in more than just monetary terms. In exploring the feasibility of the American Dream, I first establish that socioeconomic inequality is prevalent in the United States. The income gap between the highest and lowest economic quartiles has increased substantially in the past decade. Next, I examine the disparity in levels of education across socioeconomic classes among primary and secondary educational institutions. Then, I look at access to political participation and its connection to education, socioeconomic status, etc. I will continue to add additional topics as they are completed. Each installment will be included on the project’s website, which includes an informational section on the Starting Line and adds a multimedia dimension. Although the Starting Line is a living project, it appears that for the majority of Americans, social mobility is continually declining. Although I find that inequality in the United States is pervasive, I hope that any reader/viewer will draw his/her own conclusions on the matter by expanding upon my research and drawing upon personal experience

Compostos polifluorats en l'estabilització de nanopartícules metàl·liques : (Pd(o), Au(o), Ru(o) i Pt(o)) /

Consultable des del TDXTítol obtingut de la portada digitalitzadaDes de fa alguns anys, les nanopartícules metàl·liques estan despertant un gran interès en la comunitat científica per les seves propietats electròniques, catalítiques, magnètiques i òptiques a nivell nanotecnològic. Són partícules aïllades amb mides entre 1 i 100 nm, gotims d'àtoms envoltats d'una capa estabilitzadora que evita la seva aglomeració. En el nostre grup d'investigació, s'havia descobert que compostos polifluorat simples, tals com: 1,5-bis(4,4'-bis(perfluorooctil)fenil)-1,4-pentadien-3-ona (dba-RF), 2,4,6-tris(perfluorooctil)anilina, 1,4-bis(perfluorooctil)benzè, 11H,11H,12H,12H,13H, 13H,14H,14H,15H,15H,16H,16H-perfluorohexacosà(tribloc) o la 1H,1H-perfluorooctil amina, estabilitzaven nanopartícules de pal·ladi(0) i en el cas de la dba-RF, les nanopartícules eren actives en reaccions de Suzuki i Mizoroki-Heck, sota condicions de catàlisi bifàsica fluorada, podent-se recuperar i reutilitzar. Els precedents aquí descrits ens van conduir a plantejar-nos com objectiu d'una primera part de la present Tesi Doctoral millorar el mètode de perfluoroalquilació de compostos aromàtics per preparar els estabilitzants polifluorats. El mètode utilitzat consisteix en la perfluoroalquilació directa d'anilines amb iodur de perfluorooctil en presència d'òxid de coure(I) en DMSO a 130ºC, on l'òxid actua de promotor i de base neutralitzant. Però és un mètode exclusiu per anilines i presenta limitacions amb fenols, anisoles i metilendiamines. Així, varem assajar la mateixa reacció de perfluoroalquilació d'anilines amb altres espècies com a promotors de la reacció, entre ells: sals solubles de coure(I) i els òxids de plata(I) i plom(II). Les espècies assajades promogueren la reacció de perfluoroalquilació, en presència de carbonat potàssic, però en cap cas millorant els rendiments i conversions que s'obtenien amb l'òxid de coure(I). Tampoc es va aconseguir generalitzar el mètode per altres substrats. Com a segon objectiu ens varem proposar estudiar i millorar el mètode, descobert amb anterioritat en el grup, de preparació de nanopartícules de pal·ladi(0) estabilitzades pels compostos polifluorats anteriorment anomenats; així com estendre l'ús d'aquests compostos per estabilitzar nanopartícules d'altres metalls (or(0), ruteni(0) i platí(0)). En primer lloc, varem sintetitzar els estabilitzants polifluorats mitjançant els mètodes descrits. Observàrem que la síntesi de 1,5-bis(4,4'-bis(perfluorooctil)fenil)-1,4-pentadien-3-ona (dba-RF), tenia problemes de reproductibilitat. Es dugueren a terme vies alternatives per la seva preparació que tampoc van resoldre el problema. La preparació de nanopartícules de pal·ladi(0) es duia a terme per reducció del complex format entre el clorur de pal·ladi(II) i el clorur sòdic con metanol a 60ºC, en presència dels estabilitzants polifluorats. L'adició d'acetat sòdic produeix la precipitació de les nanopartícules sense aglomeració. Es varen aconseguir nanopartícules més petites utilitzant isopropanol com a reductor. També s'han realitzat estudis dels materials sòlids polifluorats utilitzats per difracció de raig X en pols i càlculs de mecànica molecular preliminars, arribant a la hipòtesi d'una estabilització per atrapament per part dels compostos polifluorats amb estructura cristal·lina ordenada. Aquests mateixos compostos polifluorats simples estabilitzen nanopartícules d'or(0) de diàmetres amb un rang entre 2.5 i 40 nm, obtingudes per reducció a temperatura ambient de l'àcid tetracloroàuric amb metanol en medi bàsic. A continuació es van assajar els nostres estabilitzants amb ruteni(0) pel mètode de reducció del lligand i separació del complex organometàl·lic, descomponent el complex Ru(COD(COT) amb hidrogen en presència dels compostos polifluorats en un dissolvent apropiat. Es va dur a terme la reacció en utilitzant diferents dissolvents, diferents quantitats i tipus d'estabilitzants així com temperatures de reacció. Amb la 2,4,6-tris(perfluorooctil)anilina i la 1H,1H,2H,2H-tetrahidroperfluorodecilamina s'obtingueren nanopartícules molt petites (3 nm de diàmetre) monodisperses, homogènies en forma, sense aglomeració i, sorprenentment, en el cas de la amina aquestes s'autoorganitzaren en agregats esfèrics regulars d'uns 70 nm. En el cas de platí(0), també s'obtingueren nanopartícules molt petites estabilitzades pels mateixos productes fluorats a través de l'aproximació organometàl·lica partint de Pt2(dba)3 com precursor. Es va observar autoorganització tubular en el cas de l'amina aromàtica i autoorganització esfèrica en el cas de l'amina alifàtica. Resumint, la tesis descriu la preparació i caracterització exhaustiva (TEM, HRTEM, SEM-FEG, SAXS, WAXS, microanàlisi, IR, UV-Vis, RMN, ED, p-XRD, TGA) de nanopartícules de diferents metalls (Pd, Au, Ru i Pt) estabilitzades per compostos polifluorats senzills.During these last years, the interest on metallic nanoparticles has increased in the scientific community, because of their electronic, catalytic, magnetic and optic properties at nanotechnological level. Nanoparticles are isolated particles with a size between 1 and 100 nm, clusters of atoms surrounded by a stabilizing shield that avoids their agglomeration. In our research group we have discovered that some heavily fluorinated compounds such as: 1,5-bis(4,4'-bis(perfluorooctyl)phenyl)-1,4-pentadien-3-one (dba-RF), 2,4,6-tris(perfluorooctyil)aniline, 1,4-bis(perfluorooctyl)benzene, 11H,11H,12H,12H,13H, 13H,14H,14H,15H,15H,16H,16H-dodecahydroperfluorohexacosane (triblock) or 1H,1H-dihydroperfluorooctilamine, stabilized palladium(0) nanoparticles and those stabilized by dba-RF catalysed Suzuki and Mizoroki-Heck reactions under fluorous biphasic phase conditions. They could be recovered and reused. With these precedents we tried to improve the research group's perfluoroalkylation method of aromatic compounds to prepare polyfluorinated stabilizers as a first objective. The method used consists of a direct perfluoroalkylation of anilines with perfluorooctyl iodide in the presence of copper(I) oxide in DMSO at 130ºC, where the oxide acts as promoter and base. But this is a method exclusive for anilines and presents some limitations with phenols, anisoles and methilendiamines. In that way, we tested the same reaction of anilines perfluoroalkylation with other species as promoters: copper(I) soluble salts, silver(I) oxide and lead(II) oxide. These species promoted the reaction, in the presence of potassium carbonate, but without improving the yields and conversions obtained with copper(I) oxide. In addition, the method couldn't be extended to other substrates. As a second objective, we studied and improved the preparation method of palladium(0) nanoparticles stabilized by the polyfluorinated compounds. Also we extended their use to stabilize nanoparticles of other metals (gold(0), ruthenium(0) and platinum(0)). First, we synthesized the stabilizing agents by the described methology. We observed that the synthesis of 1,5-bis(4,4'-bis(perfluorooctyl)phenyl)-1,4-pentadien-3-one (dba-RF) presented problems of reproducibility. Alternative synthetic ways were tested without solving the problem. Palladium(0) nanoparticles were prepared by palladium chloride reduction with methanol at 60ºC, in the presence of the polyfluorinated compounds. The sodium acetate addition induced the precipitation of the material without agglomeration. When isopropanol was used, instead of methanol, smaller nanoparticles were obtained. Otherwise, some powder X-ray diffraction studies and theoretical calculations on the polifluorinated solid materials were realized. From these studies we came to the hypothesis of entrappment stabilization of nanoparticles by our fluorinated compounds. The same simple polyfluorinated compounds stabilized gold(0) nanoparticles of 2.5-40 nm size range, obtained by reduction of tetrachloroauric acid with methanol in basic media. Later on, the stabilizers were also tested in ruthenium(0) nanoparticles preparation using the known method of Bruno Chaudret and collaborators. This consists of the decomposition of Ru(COD)(COT) with hydrogen in the presence of our polyfluorinated compounds in an appropriated solvent. Different stabilizer quantities, solvents and temperatures were tested. The smallest nanoparticles (about 3 nm), monodispersed and none aggregated, were obtained using 2,4,6-tris(perfluorooctyl)aniline and the 1H,1H,2H,2H-tetrahydroperfluorodecilamine. In the last case the nanoparticles self-assembled in 70 nm spherical and regular aggregates. With platinum(0), smaller nanoparticles were also obtained by the organometallic approach stabilized by the same fluorinated products. In that case, they self-assembled in a tubular way (using the aromatic amine) or in a spherical way (aliphatic amine). In summary, this thesis describes the preparation and the exhaustive characterization (by TEM, HRTEM, SEM-FEG, SAXS, WAXS, microanalysis, IR, UV-Vis, RMN, ED, p-XRD, TGA) of different metal nanoparticles (Pd, Au, Ru and Pt) stabilized by our simple polyfluorinated compounds

Nanopartícules de platí a la carta

Les nanopartícules tenen dimensions de milionèsima de mil·límetre. No obstant això, els seus usos varien considerablement segons les diferències entre les seves mides. Existeix un mètode de síntesi que permet modular la mida, la forma i la superfície de les nanopartícules amb un agent estabilitzant: l'anomenat mètode de l'aproximació organometàl·lica. En aquest article els autors estudien la influència de les condicions de reacció, més concretament del gas reactiu utilitzat, en la morfologia de nanopartícules de platí obtingudes pel mètode de l'aproximació organometàl·lica.Las nanopartículas tienen dimensiones de millonésima de milímetro. No obstante, sus usos varían considerablemente según las diferencias entre medidas que pueden ostentar. Existe un método de síntesis que permite modular la medida, la forma y la superficie de las nanopartículas con un agente estabilizante; es el denominado método de la aproximación organometálica. En este artículo los autores estudian la influencia de las condiciones de reacción, más concretamente el gas reactivo utilizado, en la morfología de nanopartículas de platino obtenidas por el método de la aproximación organometálica.Nanoparticles are as small as a millionth of millimeter. Nevertheless, their applications vary according to the diferent sizes they could have. For their preparation the organometallic approach is well-known and gives rise to well-controlled nanoparticles with tunable size, morphology and surface state. In this article the authors have studied the influence of reaction conditions, most particularly the reactive gas used, on the morphology of platinum nanoparticles obtained by the organometallic approach

Fraccionamento de prédios rústicos

O fraccionamento de prédios rústicos ocorre com grande frequência, quer por razões de partilha, quer por razões de transacção de propriedades, quer por muitas outras. É frequente os herdeiros não querem abdicar do seu quinhão de herança por razões económicas e/ou sentimentais. Por outro lado, também é do conhecimento geral que uma grande propriedade se dividida em pequenas parcelas (as chamadas quintinhas) é transaccionada por um valor muito mais elevado do que se vendida como um todo. Por estas e muitas outras razões, o problema do fraccionamento da propriedade rústica reveste-se de particular importância e, por isso, a legislação aplicável deve ser clara e fundamentada, o mais possível, em grandezas físicas e económicas de fácil medição. O objectivo deste trabalho é analisar em que condições a legislação vigente permite o fraccionamento de prédios rústicos - vistos como unidades produtivas -, interpretá-la à luz da Economia Agrária, apontar os principais problemas que se levantam na sua aplicação e sugerir as alterações consideradas pertinentes. Este problema, para além da importância económica e social que tem, reveste-se de especial relevância para a Ordem dos Engenheiros, na medida em que recebe frequentemente solicitações de tribunais onde decorrem processos desta natureza no sentido de indicar peritos para apoiar tecnicamente a fundamentação da decisão final dos mesmos, os quais na execução da peritagem se vão deparar com uma legislação manifestamente incompleta para o fim em causa

Dermatite eczematosa associada a inflamação da amígdala?

Trabalho Final do Curso de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 2017A desidrose é um eczema de etiologia multifactorial ainda pouco esclarecida. Descreve-se o caso de um homem de 24 anos com dermatite eczematosa de distribuição caracteristicamente desidrótica resistente à terapêutica com corticosteróides. Posteriormente foi observado em otorrinolaringologia por hipertrofia das amígdalas com dor local, adenopatia cervical unilateral, tosse e dispneia. Após remoção dum corpo estranho de origem vegetal da zona inflamada houve uma reversão marcada dos sintomas. Partindo desta sequência temporal, levanta-se a hipótese duma relação causal com a inflamação da amígdala. Apesar de ser uma associação nunca antes descrita na literatura, perante eczema desiderótico resistente à terapêutica convencional deve-se minimizar todos os estímulos inflamatórios e imunológicos, inclusive na orofaringe.Pompholyx is a multifactorial disease whose etiology is still controversial. The case report pertains to a 24 year old male who developed eczematous dermatitis with pompholyx-like distribution, refractory to corticosteroid therapy. Later he was observed due to localized tonsil pain with unilateral cervical adenopathy and bilateral hypertropy, cough and dyspnoea. After removal of a foreign body of plant origin from the area of inflamation, there was a drastic improvement of all symptoms. Considering the temporal sequence of events, we formulate the hypothesis that the inflammation of the palatine tonsils caused this reaction. Despite being an association never before described in the literature, if we're presented with pompholyx refractory to conventional therapies we should intervene and try to minimize all inflammatory and imunologic stimuli, inclusively in the oropharyngeal space

An information system for the multi-dimensional analysis of the agricultural activity - application in several cases of the national agricultural sector

Doutoramento em Engenharia Agronómica - Instituto Superior de AgronomiaIn a globalised world that refuses progressively the externalization of any type of cost, especially environmental cost, it's urgent to look at the agricultural sector with a broad perspective, incorporating new decision variables and means of analysis. The agricultural activity is asked with increasing insistence to adapt to new tasks, respecting all types of demands directed to its production systems. This thesis involved the compilation of information on a broad spectrum of activities, resources and products, and the creation of a model that would allow a multi-dimensional analysis of the agricultural activities at national level, in order to respond to a possibly wide range of questions about economic and environmental performance, numerically or spatially. The case-studies presented, aimed at demonstrating the usefulness of the system in this multi-dimensional approach to agriculture, are four: analysis of suitability to irrigation of the Portuguese territory; technical and economical evaluation of land consolidation projects; the production of agricultural residues at national level; suitability of the Alqueva perimeter for several bioenergetic crops

O desemprego de média e longa duração dos jovens : um estudo de caso : Barreiro, Cascais e Torres Vedras

Mestrado em Economia e Política SocialO desemprego de longa duração verificado na Europa nos últimos anos é um fenómeno que se tem mantido persistente apesar dos esforços dos vários sectores, pondo em causa a própria coesão europeia. Quando o desemprego atinge os jovens, defraudando expectativas de encontro de um lugar remunerado na população activa, este fenómeno reveste-se de uma gravidade acrescida, pois além de afectar de imediato a sua inserção na sociedade vai produzir a longo prazo efeitos especialmente nefastos tanto para o jovem desempregado como para a sociedade em geral. Após uma revisitação dos conceitos tradicionais e das recentes contribuições para a explicação do Desemprego Média e Longa Duração dos jovens, é feito o estudo e avaliação deste fenómeno nos Concelhos de Torres Vedras, Barreiro e Cascais, com a intenção de averiguação das variáveis que o determinam. Os resultados obtidos apontam para o Centro de Emprego e para o nível de habilitações como as principais determinantes da colocação.The long duration unemployment phenomenon veryfied in Europe in recent years has kept persistent despite efforts from various sectors, threatning european coesion. When unemployment affects youngs defrauds prospects of a career, with imediate impact on social integration and negative long-terrn effects on both the unemployed and the society in general. After a brief caracterization of traditional concepts and recent contributions to the explaination of Youth Medium and Long Term Unemployment, a study is carried out conceming the regions of Torres Vedras, Barreiro and Cascais. Results point to the Employment Center and educational levei as main variables in the explanation of success in getting a job.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Learning cortical hierarchies with temporal Hebbian updates

A key driver of mammalian intelligence is the ability to represent incoming sensory information across multiple abstraction levels. For example, in the visual ventral stream, incoming signals are first represented as low-level edge filters and then transformed into high-level object representations. Similar hierarchical structures routinely emerge in artificial neural networks (ANNs) trained for object recognition tasks, suggesting that similar structures may underlie biological neural networks. However, the classical ANN training algorithm, backpropagation, is considered biologically implausible, and thus alternative biologically plausible training methods have been developed such as Equilibrium Propagation, Deep Feedback Control, Supervised Predictive Coding, and Dendritic Error Backpropagation. Several of those models propose that local errors are calculated for each neuron by comparing apical and somatic activities. Notwithstanding, from a neuroscience perspective, it is not clear how a neuron could compare compartmental signals. Here, we propose a solution to this problem in that we let the apical feedback signal change the postsynaptic firing rate and combine this with a differential Hebbian update, a rate-based version of classical spiking time-dependent plasticity (STDP). We prove that weight updates of this form minimize two alternative loss functions that we prove to be equivalent to the error-based losses used in machine learning: the inference latency and the amount of top-down feedback necessary. Moreover, we show that the use of differential Hebbian updates works similarly well in other feedback-based deep learning frameworks such as Predictive Coding or Equilibrium Propagation. Finally, our work removes a key requirement of biologically plausible models for deep learning and proposes a learning mechanism that would explain how temporal Hebbian learning rules can implement supervised hierarchical learning

Minimizing Control for Credit Assignment with Strong Feedback

The success of deep learning ignited interest in whether the brain learns hierarchical representations using gradient-based learning. However, current biologically plausible methods for gradient-based credit assignment in deep neural networks need infinitesimally small feedback signals, which is problematic in biologically realistic noisy environments and at odds with experimental evidence in neuroscience showing that top-down feedback can significantly influence neural activity. Building upon deep feedback control (DFC), a recently proposed credit assignment method, we combine strong feedback influences on neural activity with gradient-based learning and show that this naturally leads to a novel view on neural network optimization. Instead of gradually changing the network weights towards configurations with low output loss, weight updates gradually minimize the amount of feedback required from a controller that drives the network to the supervised output label. Moreover, we show that the use of strong feedback in DFC allows learning forward and feedback connections simultaneously, using learning rules fully local in space and time. We complement our theoretical results with experiments on standard computer-vision benchmarks, showing competitive performance to backpropagation as well as robustness to noise. Overall, our work presents a fundamentally novel view of learning as control minimization, while sidestepping biologically unrealistic assumptions