Markov-Perfect Optimal Fiscal Policy: The Case of Unbalanced Budgets

We study optimal income taxation and public debt policy in a neoclassical economy populated by infinitely-lived households and a benevolent government. The government makes sequential decisions on the provision of a valued public good, on income taxation and the issue of public debt. We characterize and compute Markov-perfect optimal fiscal policy in this economy with two payoff-relevant state variables: physical capital and public debt. We find two stable, steady-state equilibria: one with no income taxation and positive government asset holdings, and another with positive taxation and public debt issuances. We prove that the two steady states are associated with different policy rules, which implies a multiplicity of (expectation-driven) Markov-perfect equilibria.Optimal taxation; optimal public debt; Markov-perfect equilibrium; Time-consistent policy

Effect of the microenvironment on alternative splicing in colorectal cells

About effect of the microenvironment on alternative splicing in colorectal cells.N/

Low carbon development in Latin America

UID/CPO/04627/2013publishersversionpublishe

Brazilian Amazonian politics and policy (2019-2022) and the need for transformative change

Despite its potential to transition toward a green economy, Brazil became an environmental villain in recent years. The anti-environmentalist and anti-indigenist administration of President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) partly dismantled environmental governance. The Amazon and its more-than-human populations were severely hit by Bolsonaro's predatory agenda, which supported and legitimized the interests of the anti-conservationist forces within economic sectors such as agribusiness and mining, and fueled organized crime and violence in the region. This paper provides an overview and analysis of Amazonian politics and policy during this period, and discusses the importance of, and possibilities for, a transformative approach to the governance of the region

Pharmacotherapy, treatment satisfaction and funcional impact among fibromyalgia patients: characterization of a Portuguese sample

Introdução:A fibromialgia é uma doença caracterizada por dor generalizada, fadiga, distúrbios de sono e problemas psicológicos e de cognição. A doença afeta maioritariamente o sexo feminino, na meia idade, sendo a sua prevalência de 1,7% em Portugal. Atualmente não existe cura e o tratamentoda doença é realizado com base nos sintomas, sendo constituído por tratamento farmacológico e não farmacológico. A fibromialgia é de especial relevânciano quotidianodo doente,e pode afetar a sua qualidade de vida negativamente. Objetivos:Caracterizar a farmacoterapia do doente português com fibromialgia, analisandoa sua satisfação no que toca à medicação; e avaliar o impacto destana condição de saúde e capacidade funcionaldo doente. Metodologia: Foi realizado um estudo observacional, onde foi aplicado um questionário online, à população portuguesa, através de associações portuguesas. Foi constituídopor quatro partes: caracterização sociodemográfica; Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire; caracterização farmacoterapêutica e o Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication. Os dados obtidos foram analisadosestatisticamente e as variáveis foram relacionadasatravés de teste de ANOVA e correlação de Pearson.Resultados: A amostraapresentou um score de 64,89 ±15,92 no Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, que se evidenciou relacionadocom aidade e a zona de residência (p=0,039 e p=0,047respetivamente). Os grupos de fármacosmais comumenteutilizados pelos doentes foram: anti-inflamatórios não esteróides (17,7%) e ansiolíticos(16,9%). Relativamente à satisfação com a medicação, os doentes evidenciaram um score de 67,87 na “Conveniência”, 67,59 nos “Efeitos Adversos”, 45,01 na “Eficácia” e 46,25 na “Satisfação Global”.Esta mostrou-seinfluenciada pelo tempo de diagnóstico, número de medicamentos administradose pela natureza da medicação.Discussão e Conclusão: Os resultados doscore do Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaireevidenciam quea doença tem um impacto negativo na vida doente, uma vez que o score apresenta um valor superior a 50. Os doentes com fibromialgia tendem a tomar mais que uma medicação, e os gruposfarmacoterapêuticosdosanti-inflamatóriosnão esteróides e ansiolíticos são os mais usados, no entanto são também os menos aconselhados na literatura devido à falta de eficácia e/ou efeitos secundários. Também várias classes de antidepressivos e anticonvulsivantes são grupos usados para o tratamento da fibromialgia, que apesar de eficazes, não representam os grupos de maior consumo. Relativamente à satisfação com a medicação, os valores devem ser avaliados cuidadosamente devido à diversidade do tratamento. A fibromialgia tem um impacto negativo na qualidade de vida, e neste sentido são necessários mais estudos que explorem terapias eficazes na fibromialgia, com efeitos adversos mínimos, de forma a garantir a adesão ao tratamento, melhorandoa qualidade de vida do doente.Introduction: Fibromyalgia is characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, and psychological and cognitive problems. The disease affects mainly females in middle age and has a prevalence of 1,7% in Portugal. The treatment is based on experienced symptoms and consists in pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment. Fibromyalgia has an important impact onpatient's life and can negatively affect their quality of life. Objectives:Characterize the patient's pharmacotherapy and analysetheir satisfaction with medicationandunderstand if this affectspatient's health condition and functional capacity. Methodology: An observational study was made with the application of an online questionnaireto the Portuguese population, throughportuguese associations. Itwas composed by four parts: sociodemographic characterization; Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire; pharmacotherapeutic characterization and the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for MedicationThe data obtained were statistically analysed and the variables were relatedtrough ANOVA and Pearson correlation.Results: The population presented a score of 64,89 ±15,92 in the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire,and this was associated with age and the area of residence (p= 0,039 and p= 0,047). The most common medication among patients werethe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory group (17,7%) and anxiolyticsdrugs(16,9%). Regarding the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire, the score was 67,87 for “Convenience”, 67,59 for “Adverse Effects”, 45,01 for “Effectiveness” and 46,25 for “Global Satisfaction”and wasinfluenced by time of diagnosis, number of medications taken and bythe drug classes. Discussion and Conclusion:From the average Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire score, it can be observedthat the disease has a negative impact on life, since the score is greater than 50. Patients with fibromyalgia tend to take more than one medication: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and anxiolytic groups are the most commonly used, however they are also the least advised due to lack of efficacy and/or side effects. In addition,antidepressants and anticonvulsants, despite being recommendin fibromyalgiapatients, they are not very common drugs in this sample. The Treatment Satisfaction values should be carefully evaluated due to the diversity of treatment. Further research is needed to unravel effective therapies that can ameliorating the various symptoms of fibromyalgiawith minimal adverse effects, in order to ensure treatment adherence and further improve patient’s quality of life

Deaf on stage: The cultural impact of performing Signed Songs

Signed Song – the aesthetic production or adaptation of lyrics and rhythm into signed languages – is an emerging artistic product within Deaf communities. This thesis is an international study, exploring Signed Songs in Portuguese Sign Language (Língua Gestual Portuguesa - LGP) and British Sign Language (BSL), particularly those created1 and performed by Deaf adults. This work constitutes interdisciplinary research drawing from Deaf Studies, Translation Studies and Performance Studies, theoretically framing Signed Song as a Deaf cultural product, as a translation product and a performing art. Research focuses on how Signed Songs are perceived by audience members and what they learn about the languages and cultures of Deaf people, but also investigates the views of Signed Song practitioners. Specific goals are to trace Signed Songs throughout history in Portugal and in the UK, and to gather the insights from audience members and artists. At a broader level, this thesis contributes to a more generalised conception of Deaf communities as minority cultures, and to preserving Deaf cultural heritage. Research design encompasses a multidisciplinary literature review, archival work, and fieldwork with artists and audiences from both countries, composed of a qualitative study exploring the views of Portuguese and British audiences via online and in situ questionnaires, and the views of artists via in-depth interviews. This thesis provides an understanding of the roles of Signed Song performances in the two localised Deaf communities, as well as in the Portuguese and British hearing communities, as a cultural product of Deaf minorities but also as an artform with an intercultural outreach. Conclusions show that Signed Songs are creative forms of translation which convey Deaf cultural resistance, defy traditions in Deaf communities and general conceptions of music, and draw attention to Deaf intersectionality. The Portuguese and British practices display differences which mirror the local situation of each Deaf community and national context, namely regarding the existing Deaf accessibility conditions to artistic settings and general mainstream services. This research proposes a definition of a good-quality Signed Song, built from the perspective of Portuguese and British Deaf audiences but also inclusive of hearing people who do not know sign language

Essays on Time-Consistent Fiscal Policy.

This thesis consists of an analysis of different aspects of optimal fiscal policy in dynamic economies, with a special emphasis on the consequences of dropping the assumption of full commitment to future policies: the Third Best environment. As is now well known in the dynamic optimal taxation literature - namely after the seminal contributions by Kydland and Prescott (1977) and Fisher (1980) - the fact that governments choose their fiscal policy sequentially means that they cannot credibly make promises on future taxes that fall on investments made today. When the future arrives, previous choices are bygones and namely the previous investment decisions will have been translated into inelastically supplied factors of production [such as physical and human capital]. It will then be optimal to revise past promises and tax heavily such inputs so as to lower the remaining distortions. As such, each government should set its policy as a best response to the expected, time-consistent, future policy rules. This generally represents also deviating from the second best solution for the first period. The aim of my dissertation is to provide new insights on how should benevolent governments optimally set their fiscal plan in scenarios where policy is chosen sequentially [as it is done in real economies] and to contrast the obtained results both to what we observe in developed economies and to the Second Best. Furthermore, special emphasis will be put on the design of the fiscal constitutions and its role in alleviating the burden of policy discretion over social welfare. For that, I will focus on two particular examples of the time-inconsistency problem in intertemporal policy making, hoping that the lessons derived therefrom can be extended easily to qualitatively similar problems.Fiscal policy;

Therapeutic deep eutectic systems as promising new tools in the anticancer battle

Cancer remains a major health problem worldwide, with colorectal cancer (CRC) being the third most incident and the second most lethal. Inflammation has been highly associated with cancer development and maintenance, therefore, the reduction of the inflammatory microenvironment represents a promising therapeutic strategy. Deep eutectic systems (DES) are based on the combination of different components which together, at a certain molar ratio, present a deep decrease in their melting point compared with the individual compounds. When an active pharmaceutical ingredient is part of a DES it is designated by therapeutic deep eutectic system (THEDES). New THEDES combining terpenes with anticancer properties, such as safranal, menthol and linalool, with NSAIDs, like ibuprofen, ketoprofen and flurbiprofen were produced. To evaluate THEDES therapeutic potential activity, their physico-chemical properties, bioavailability and bioactivity, were explored using an integrative approach to determine their anti-CRC activity. Our results show that Safranal:Ibuprofen (3:1), Safranal:Ibuprofen (4:1) and Menthol:Ibuprofen (3:1) present promising therapeutic activity towards CRC cells due to a selective cytotoxic action towards cancer cells. Menthol:Ibuprofen (3:1) anti proliferative action seems to be related with cell membrane disruption, reduction of the inflammation through the reduction of ROS production, and induction of apoptosis via caspase-3. On the other hand, Safranal:Ibuprofen (3:1) and Safranal:Ibuprofen (4:1) seem to prevent tumour cells expansion only through the induction of apoptosis via caspase-3. These systems also present an increasement in Ibuprofen permeability, with Menthol:Ibuprofen (3:1) increasing also Ibuprofen solubility and the overall bioavailability.O cancro continua a ser um dos maiores problemas de saúde em todo o mundo, sendo que o cancro colorretal é o terceiro mais incidente e o segundo mais letal. A inflamação está altamente associada ao desenvolvimento e persistência do cancro, por esse motivo, a redução do microambiente inflamatório representa uma estratégia terapêutica promissora. Sistemas eutéticos, em inglês, Deep eutectic systems (DES) são sistemas baseados na combinação de diferentes componentes que em conjunto e a um determinado rácio molar apresentam uma grande diminuição do ponto de fusão em comparação com os compostos individuais. Quando um dos componentes do DES é um ingrediente farmacêutico ativo ele é designado de sistemas eutéticos terapêuticos, therapeutic deep eutectic system (THEDES). Novos THEDES a conjugar terpenos com propriedades anticancerígenas, como mentol, safranal e linalool, com anti-inflamatórios não esteroides, como ibuprofeno, cetoprofen e flurbiprofeno. Para avaliar o potencial terapêutico dos THEDES, as suas propriedades físico- -químicas, biodisponibilidade e bioatividade foram exploradas ao longo da tese como uma análise integrativa para determinar as suas atividades contra o cancro colorretal. Os nossos resultados demonstram que o Safranal:Ibuprofeno (3:1), Safranal:Ibuprofeno (4:1) e Mentol:Ibuprofeno (3:1) apresentam uma atividade terapêutica promissora contra as células do cancro colorretal devido a uma ação citotóxica seletiva contra as células cancerígenas. A ação do Mentol:Ibuprofeno (3:1) como anti-proliferativo contra as células cancerígenas aparenta estar relacionada com a disrupção da membrana celular, redução da inflamação através da redução da produção de ROS, e através da indução da apoptose via caspase-3. Por outro lado, Safranal:Ibuprofeno (3:1) e Safranal:Ibuprofeno (4:1) aparentam prevenir a expansão das células tumorais apenas através da indução da apoptose via caspase-3. Adicionalmente, estes sistemas também apresentam um aumento da permeabilidade do Ibuprofeno, com o sistema Mentol:Ibuprofeno (3:1) aumentando também a solubilidade do Ibuprofeno e a sua biodisponibilidade no geral