¿Administración (A)política? El retrato y los factores de selección del dirigente público

This article addresses the issue of how political and administrative actors relate to each other, focusing on the selection of Senior Civil Servants as key actors to implement public policies. A literature review and documental analysis were carried out, and an on-line questionnaire was applied to Senior Civil Servants in managerial positions in Portugal between 2004 and 2011 (n = 964). The results show that, in all cases, the p-value was equal or less than.05 (p ≤.05). The analysis allowed us to confirm two main criteria used for the selection of Senior Civil Servants (political and professional) and their respective factors. Despite indicating that the political criterion somehow plays a role in the selection of public officials in Portugal, the study could not confirm the hypothesis that political factors are predominant when hiring senior civil servants in the country.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bridging the 'gap‘ between migrants and the banking system: an innovative business model promoting financial integration, financial stability, and profitability

The thesis probes a specific area - the banking system and the business niche concerned with migrants' remittances - and considers the flows of these people and their money in today‘s global economy (over 3% of the world's population). It argues that the banking system has failed to understand the changing "paradigm" of the migrant market and thus has not updated its business plan or business model for this business segment in response. In failing to harness the liquidity of the migrant market, the author argues, the banking industry is missing out on a potentially profitable business segment that could create financial stability within the industry and the world's economies. Furthermore, by ignoring the "gap" that exists between the financial products on offer to the migrant sector and their needs in this respect in both the host and origin countries - providing a service at "both ends of the corridor" - the industry is also in danger of losing site of its commitment to social responsibility and the financial integration of migrants. At the heart of the argument for financial stability and financial integration is the proposition that there is a lack of communication among stakeholders, namely academic and financial institutions, governments, Diaspora associations and other decision makers

The Public Administration Performance Appraisal Integrated System (SIADAP) and the Portuguese civil servants perceptions

As part of managerial reform process, in 2004 the Public Administration Performance Appraisal Integrated System (SIADAP) was set up in Portugal. This study aimed to analyze the perceptions of Portuguese civil servants on this appraisal system. A second drive was to understand how those perceptions change depending on what extent the model is perceived as fair or not. A survey was carried out and data were collected from 2066 civil servants, including managers. The results show very negative perceptions, in particular regarding SIADAP’s objectivity, transparency and fairness. Also, Kruskal-Wallis tests and post-hoc paired comparisons reveal that civil servants who see the system as “unfair” tend to have more negative perceptions on it than those who see it as “fair” or those who are not sure about the fairness of the system.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Interplay of tidal evolution and stellar wind braking in the rotation of stars hosting massive close-in planets

This paper deals with the application of the creep tide theory (Ferraz-Mello, Cel. Mech. Dyn. Astron. vol. 116, 109, 2013) to the study of the rotation of stars hosting massive close-in planets. The stars have nearly the same tidal relaxation factors as gaseous planets and the evolution of their rotation is similar to that of close-in hot Jupiters: they tidally evolve towards a stationary solution. However, stellar rotation may also be affected by stellar wind braking. Thus, while the rotation of a quiet host star evolves towards a stationary attractor with a frequency ($1+6e^2$) times the orbital mean-motion of the companion, the continuous loss of angular momentum in an active star displaces the stationary solution towards slower values: Active host stars with big close-in companions tend to have rotational periods larger than the orbital periods of their companions. The study of some hypothetical examples shows that because of tidal evolution, the rules of gyrochronology cannot be used to estimate the age of one system with a large close-in companion, no matter if the star is quiet or active, if the current semi-major axis of the companion is smaller than 0.03--0.04 AU. Details on the evolution of the systems: CoRoT LRc06E21637, CoRoT-27, Kepler-75, CoRoT-2, CoRoT-18, CoRoT-14 and on hypothetical systems with planets of mass 1--4 M_Jup in orbit around a star similar to the Sun are given.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures; Publication in Ap

Comparative environmental analysis of soil sampling methods in precision agriculture for lime application in Paraná State, Brazil

Precision agriculture (PA) provides techniques that favour the localized application of inputs allowing their rational use. This makes the PA a potential indicator of reduced operational costs, input volume, and environmental impacts. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the environmental effects of three different sampling methods used in PA for the lime application. The first sampling method evaluated was the grid sampling (GS). It was performed at a density of one sample per hectare in a 100×100 m georeferenced grid. The second method was the directed sampling, that was performed after defining the management zones by soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) using a soil electrical conductivity sensor. The lest sampling method was the Altitude-based management zone (AMZ) sampling that was developed based on altitude maps of the field. These sampling methods were tested in three different areas in the south of Brazil. This study evaluated the spatial variability of the lime volume in the soil and compared quantitatively and spatially the recommended application volumes achieved by each sampling method. Results highlighted that the sensor-directed soil sampling method was the alternative that would generate the lowest environmental impact

Experimental Observation of Quantum Correlations in Modular Variables

We experimentally detect entanglement in modular position and momentum variables of photon pairs which have passed through $D$-slit apertures. We first employ an entanglement criteria recently proposed in [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 106}, 210501 (2011)], using variances of the modular variables. We then propose an entanglement witness for modular variables based on the Shannon entropy, and test it experimentally. Finally, we derive criteria for Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Steering correlations using variances and entropy functions. In both cases, the entropic criteria are more successful at identifying quantum correlations in our data.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, comments welcom

RGB vegetation indices applied to grass monitoring: a qualitative analysis

ArticleIn developing countries such as Brazil, research on low-cost remote sensing and computational techniques become essential for the development of precision agriculture (PA), and improving the quality of the agricultural products. Faced with the scenario of increasing production of emerald grass (Zoysia Japônica) in Brazil, and the value added the quality of this agricultural product. The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of RGB (IV) vegetation indices in the identification of exposed soil and vegetation. The study was developed in an irrigated area of 58 ha cultivated with emerald grass at Bom Sucesso, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The images were obtained by a RGB digital camera coupled to an remotely piloted aircraft. The flight plan was setup to take overlapping images of 70% and the aircraft speed was 10 m s -1 . Six RGB Vegetation index (MGVRI, GLI, RGBVI, MPRI, VEG, ExG) were evaluated in a mosaic resulting from the images of the study area. All of the VIs evaluated were affected by the variability of lighting conditions in the area but MPRI and MGVRI were the ones that presented the best results in a qualitative evaluation regarding the discrimination of vegetation and soil

Indicadores para a avaliação da disponibilidade hídrica para o desenvolvimento sustentável da atividade canavieira irrigada.

Para a racionalização do uso dos recursos hídricos e promoção do desenvolvimento sustentável da atividade canavieira na região Centro-Oeste torna-se importante o desenvolvimento de procedimentos metodológicos que possam fornecer subsídios técnicos para o planejamento e gestão setorial - agricultura e recursos hídricos. O presente trabalho apresenta dois indicadores concebidos para a avaliação do potencial da disponibilidade hídrica para atender a demanda projetada de água para o desenvolvimento da atividade canavieira

Chirikov Diffusion in the Asteroidal Three-Body Resonance (5,-2,-2)

The theory of diffusion in many-dimensional Hamiltonian system is applied to asteroidal dynamics. The general formulations developed by Chirikov is applied to the Nesvorn\'{y}-Morbidelli analytic model of three-body (three-orbit) mean-motion resonances (Jupiter-Saturn-asteroid system). In particular, we investigate the diffusion \emph{along} and \emph{across} the separatrices of the (5,-2,-2) resonance of the (490) Veritas asteroidal family and their relationship to diffusion in semi-major axis and eccentricity. The estimations of diffusion were obtained using the Melnikov integral, a Hadjidemetriou-type sympletic map and numerical integrations for times up to $10^{8}$ years.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figure