Free QQ-distributive lattice over an nn-element chain

In this note we provide an explicit construction of $FQ({\bf n})$, the free $Q$-distributive lattice over an $n$-element chain, different from those given by Cignoli [4] and Abad--Díaz Varela [1], and prove that $FQ({\bf n})$ can be endowed with a structure of a De Morgan algebra.Fil: Monteiro, Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Matemática Bahía Blanca. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Matemática. Instituto de Matemática Bahía Blanca; ArgentinaFil: Abad, Manuel. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Matemática; ArgentinaFil: Zander, Marta Amalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Matemática; Argentin

Unionized Labor Markets and Globalized Capital Markets

This paper studies the effects of international integration of capital markets in a world where countries differ in their labor market institutions: one country has a perfectly competitive labor market while the other is unionized. We show that workers should favor autarky in the unionized country, but oppose it in the non unionized country and vice versa for owners of capital. Aggregate gains from integration, however, are negative. We also show that, under capital mobility, an increase in relative bargaining power of unions does not always improve workers’ welfare.Capital mobility, Globalization, Unions, Welfare.

Cattle identification based in biometric features of the muzzle

Cattle identification has been a serious issue for breeding association. The muzzle pattern that is correlated with human fingerprints has been considered as a biometric marker for cattle and could be used in identification of bovine animals. This work presents a robust and fast cattle identification scheme from muzzle images using Speed-up Robust Features matching. To eliminate miss-matched outliers a matching refinement technique based on the matching orientation information has been proposedinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Unions and Globalisation

We analyze the effects of international integration of product and capital markets (i.e., globalisation) in a world where countries differ in their labour market institutions: one country has a perfectly competitive labour market while the other is unionized. We show that workers should favour autarky in the unionized country, but oppose it in the non unionized country. Vice versa for owners of capital. Aggregate gains from integration, however, are negative. We also show that, under capital mobility an increase in relative bargaining power of unions does not always improve workers' welfare: there is a critical level of bargaining strength above which an increase in union power reduces workers' income in the unionized country.Capital mobility, Unions, Globalisation

Characterization of CD8+ T-CELL populations of the human peripheral blood

Tese de doutoramento (Registo), Univ. de Lisboa, nº 28, 2009, (Immunologie), Université René Descartes - Paris V, 2009Following antigenic challenge, naïve CD8+ T lymphocytes undergo severalchanges, including the expression of cell-surface molecules. In humans, theassociation of CCR7, CD45RA, CD27 and CD28 is widely used to discriminate areproducible set of functionally different subpopulations of CD8+ T cells. However,the prevailing data concerning the description of these subsets remainsfragmentary, since a multitude of studies used a different and limited set of surfacemarkers. Hence, some CD8+ T-cell subsets are still not clearly established,especially within the CCR7 CD45RA+ and CCR7 CD45R0+ compartments, andthe correspondent differential roles and lineage relationships remain undisclosed.The present study aims to define a predictable and precise correlationbetween particular cell surface markers and CD8+ T-cell functional properties. Weassociated CCR7, CD45RA, CD27 and CD28 expression levels to subdivide CD8+T cells into fourteen different cell types. These populations were further isolatedand gene expression of 18 genes was assessed, simultaneously, in single-cells bya novel multiplex RT-PCR method we developed. Our results demonstrate that thedifferent subpopulations display distinct and characteristic gene co-expressionpatterns, reproducible between donors. CD45RA expression is required to definethe naïve subset, but does not discriminate functionally different populations ofprimed cells. In contrast, gene expression profiles of CCR7-CD8+ T cells correlatesignificantly to CD27 expression levels and CD27/CD28 co-expression, and ahierarchy of activation stages could be established as follows: naïve < CD27high <CD27+CD28+ < CD28+CD27 < CD27+CD28 < CD27 CD28 . Surprisingly, wefound that CD45RA+ and CD45RA cells of each of these subsets had the samegene expression patterns at both qualitative and quantitative level. Importantly, weidentified minor subsets displaying characteristics of recent activation that could befound in both CD45RA+ and CD45RA compartments. These findings stronglysuggest that differentiation of naïve CD8+ T cells into effectors does notnecessarily imply CD45RA downregulation. Furthermore, they describe novelCD8+ T cell subsets and establish a correlation between surface phenotype andcell function, which helped to identify homogeneous populations

The causes of unsuccess of entrepreneurial practices from technological start-ups

The purpose of this research is to study the main features of successful technological start-ups, to validate if the theory that is shown in this paper applies to reality, defining some guidelines that allow entrepreneurs to better understand what variables contribute to achieve success or failure. The scope of this research is focused on two very trending areas nowadays: entrepreneurship and technology. Both contribute a great deal to the country’s evolution in which they are operating and it’s respective competitive advantage, they also help developing the economy, job creation and to increase knowledge and skills of their workforce. The methodology consisted on a survey performed to a group of technological entrepreneurs, distinguishing the successful experiences from the unsuccessful ones. This approach allows one to identify some important correlations on both cases. The main conclusions that came from the survey were that successful entrepreneurs have bigger experience, with good management skills and market sensitivity. On the other hand, the unsuccessful entrepreneurs that were studied seemed to lack proactivity and overall accurate planning, with their biggest constraint being the time-to-market. In the end, this study is intended to help technological entrepreneurs to understand some of the requirements needed to start/adapt their business in the best way to achieve the success of their venture.O objetivo deste estudo é analizar as principais características de start-ups tecnológicas bem sucedidas, permitindo validar se a teoria que nesta dissertação é levantada se aplica à realidade, definindo, desta forma, algumas linhas de orientação que permitam ao empreendedor perceber que variáveis contribuem para que atinja o sucesso ou o fracasso. O âmbito da presente dissertação evoca duas temáticas muito em voga nos dias de hoje: empreendedorismo e tecnologia. Ambas contribuem visivelmente para a evolução do país em que se enquadram e respetiva vantagem competitiva, auxiliando no desenvolvimento da economia, criação de emprego, aumento do conhecimento e competências. A metodologia utilizada consistiu num inquérito realizado a um grupo de empreendedores do setor tecnológico, distinguindo os casos de sucesso dos de insucesso. Esta abordagem permitiu identificar algumas correlações que parecem importantes em ambos os casos. As principais conclusões que advieram desta dissertação identificam que os empreendedores de sucesso têm maior experiência, bons conhecimentos de gestão e conhecimento do mercado no qual entram. Por outro lado, os empreendedores entrevistados que não foram bem sucedidos aparentam falta de proatividade e de planeamento detalhado nos seus negócios, sendo que a maior dificuldade para este grupo está relacionada com o tempo que demora a entrar no mercado desejado. Este estudo pretende ajudar os empreendedores do setor tecnológico a compreender alguns dos requisitos necessários para começar/adaptar o seu negócio à melhor forma de atingir o sucesso do mesmo

The unavoidable link between credit expansion and money creation

Mestrado em FinançasO propósito desta dissertação é clarificar a ligação entre criação de dinheiro e expansão de crédito, explicando como é realmente criada a moeda, e como a clara percepção desta ligação pode ajudar a encontrar soluções para a crise económica. Depois da Grande recessão de 2007/08 muitos esforços foram tomados a nível global mas muitos países ainda enfrentam preocupações relativas ao seu desenvolvimento económico. Estas medidas serão explicadas e os seus resultados analisados. Distinguindo os países que emitem a própria moeda dos outros, como os países da zona Euro, é possível perceber as melhores medidas a serem tomadas por cada um deles e quais as falhas no sistema. Duas soluções simples serão propostas no fim desta dissertação de forma a ajudar os países da zona Euro que ainda enfrentam a recessão a alcançar melhores resultados económicos.The purpose of this dissertation is to clarify the link between money and credit expansion, by explaining how money is really created, and how the understanding of this link could be of great help in order to solve an economic crisis. After the Great Recession of 2007/08 many efforts were taken globally but many countries are still perturbed in their economic path. Those measures will be discussed and their results analysed. Distinguishing countries that are issuers of their own currency from the other ones, like Eurozone countries, it becomes possible to understand the best measures to be taken by each one and what the flaws in the system are. Two basic solutions are proposed in the end of this dissertation in order to help Eurozone countries that still face a recession to reach better economic results.N/

A Panel Data Econometric Study of Corporate Tax Revenue in European Union: Structural, Cyclical Business and Institutional Determinants

This paper studies the economic determinants of corporate tax revenue to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) across European Union members over the period 1998-2009. The Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) regression results suggest that structural, cyclical, international and institutional factors such as GDP, Government Deficit, Industry Turnover, Unemployment, Number of Enterprises, Trade Openness, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Corruption affect revenue performance of an economy. Thus, the findings show that Unemployment Rate and Corruption have an adverse effect on tax collection, while the other analysed factors contribute to a better performance concerning tax collection. In the present paper we also consider as explanatory factors the tax variables Effective Average Tax Rate (EATR) and Effective Marginal Tax Rate (EMTR). In fact, empirical results indicate a parabolic relationship between EMTR and corporate tax revenues, reinforcing the hypothesis of the existence of a Laffer curve. Our findings also suggest that the last two years of European Union enlargement are likely not to have had effect in corporate tax revenue to GDP. In addition, specific factors of some countries (Greece, Portugal and Spain) seem to positively affect corporate revenues.Corporate Tax Revenue, EATR, EMTR, Corruption, Laffer Curve

Conciliação Trabalho-Família em Três Tipos de Organizações

Este estudo aborda a questão da conciliação entre o trabalho e família, nomeadamente a questão da importância da existência de medidas de conciliação. A pesquisa decorreu em três contextos, numa empresa com medidas de conciliação efectivas, uma empresa sem medidas de conciliação e no setor público, através de questionários Os principais resultados mostram que a existência de medidas de conciliação e de uma cultura organizacional apoiante (para a qual contribui o apoio de colegas e chefias) aumentam a perceção de capacidade de conciliação\ e permitem diminuir o stress sentido pelos trabalhadores. Percebeu-se também que existe uma maior interferência do trabalho na família do que o contrário e que as mulheres continuam a ser quem sente mais dificuldades em relação à conciliação. / This study addresses the issue of balancing work and family, namely the issue of importance of conciliation measures. The research took place in three contexts, a company with actual measures of conciliation, a company without conciliation measures and the public sector, through questionnaires The main results show that the existence of reconciliation measures and a supportive organizational culture (which contributes to the support of colleagues and supervisors) increase the perception of ability to compromise and they reduce the stress felt by workers. We also noticed that there is a greater interference of work in the family than otherwise and that women continue to be who feels more difficulties regarding the conciliation