Exchange Market Pressure in African Lusophone Countries

This paper explores the credibility of exchange rate arrangements for the five African Portuguese-speaking (PALOP) countries. Our working hypothesis is that credibility necessarily implies low mean exchange market pressure (EMP), low EMP conditional volatility and low-severity EMP crises. In addition, economic fundamentals must account for EMP dynamics. We also seek evidence of a risk-return relationship for mean EMP and of “bad news” (negative shocks) having a greater impact on EMP volatility than “good news” (positive shocks). Using our econometric models, we are able to rank PALOP countries’ conditional volatility in ordinal terms. Our main conclusion is that countries with currency pegs, such as Guinea-Bissau (GB) and Cape Verde (CV), clearly have lower volatility when compared to those with managed floats and are therefore more credible. Moreover, EMP crises episodes under pegs are much less severe. We find that economic fundamentals correctly account for mean EMP in all countries and that the risk-return relationship is much more favourable for investors under currency pegs, as the increase in volatility is lower for the same rate of return. The exception to this finding is Mozambique (MOZ), which apparently has a risk-return profile akin to that enjoyed by countries with pegs. A plausible reason is that MOZ has the only managed float in our sample implementing monetary and exchange rate policy within the confines of an IMF framework, which establishes floors for international reserves and ceilings for the central bank’s net domestic assets. This intuition needs to be tested, however. EMP conditional volatility is generally driven by changes in domestic credit (lowers it) and foreign reserve changes (raises it). The first effect is more pronounced under currency pegs, but also under MOZ’s managed float. “Bad news” increases volatility more that “good news” only in the case of CV’s currency peg, which we take to be another sign of its credibility. A few striking cross-country comparisons also emerge in our analysis. Among countries with managed floats, we find that Angola (ANG) has the most severe EMP crises whilst MOZ has the least severe. São Tomé & Princípe (STP), meanwhile, lies between these two extremes but its EMP crises behaviour is clearly much closer to that of MOZ. STP’s credibility may also be improving since its volatility has declined as of 2002 and its level is now much closer to that of MOZ, whose managed float has lowest volatility of such arrangements.

Fly by data link: feasibility of a relative navigation solution for aviation relying on a future L-band data link

Trabalho final de Mestrado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia de Electrónica e TelecomunicaçõesO presente trabalho estuda uma solução alternativa de navegação aeronáutica que contribua para a racionalização da infrastrutura terrestre de ajudas-rádio de navegação na Europa. O conceito designado de “Performance Based Navigation (PBN)” emerge actualmente ao nível da Organização Internacional de Aviação Civil, visando o aperfeiçoamento do sistema de gestão do tráfego aéreo ao nível da eficiência, segurançae capacidade. O conceito PBN promove a modernização da infrastrutura aeronáutica com base na utilização preferencial de sistemas de navegação por satélite, designadamente mediante o recurso a sinais disponibilizados pelas constelações “Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)”. Face às vulnerabilidades dos sistemas GNSS a interferências RF, “jamming” deliberado ou fenómenos solares, foi decidido manter uma infrastrutura de recurso/”backup”, para mitigar falhas GNSS, baseada numa redede rádio-ajudas terrestres “Distance Measuring Equipment (DME)”. Visto que estes DMEs não facultam uma boa cobertura, especialmente a baixa altitude, e tratando-se de equipamentos próximos da obsolescência tecnológica e pouco eficientes em termos de espectro rádioeléctrico, a sua racionalização requer uma tecnologia alternativa. O presente trabalho explora o recurso a novas tecnologias aeronáuticas de comunicações dados ar-solo, designadamente o futuro “data link” OFDM/TDMA de banda L (LDACS), verificando a sua adequação para suportarem as funções de navegação descritas substituindo os DMEs. Pretende-se confirmar a viabilidade com base no conceito de Navegação Relativa (RELNAV) usado em contexto militar recorrendo a filtros Kalman. As características da tecnologia LDACS são descritas e são apresentados resultados de testes do seu desempenho em termos de medição de distâncias (“ranging”). Com base nas capacidades RELNAV militares são propostos melhoramentos baseadosem filtros Kalman, simulando para demonstrar que o LDACS pode ser usado para funçãode navegação. Demonstrada a viabilidade, fica em aberto a oportunidade para sinergias que poderão viabilizar a racionalização da infrastrutura terrestre de navegação e aviónicos.Abstract: The main purpose of this work is to study an alternative solution for aeronautical aircraft navigation contributing to the rationalization of the existing European ground navigation infrastructure. The emerging Performance Based Navigation (PBN) concept, described in the document 9613 of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), calls for increased reliance on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) (and its augmentation/differential correction systems1) but retaining ground beacons such as the Distance Measuring Equipments (DME) to cope with Global Positioning System (GPS) and GALILEO outages (e.g. jamming/solar storms). The present work will focus on demonstrating the feasibility of an alternative technology to allow the decommissioning of such DME beacons based on the re-use offuture L-Band Air Ground Data Link (LDACS) communication solutions being subject of research studies. Such data links may support the required levels of positioning, navigation and timing required to complement GNSS when the aircraft fly in an area navigation environment. This work will describe the LDACS data link technologies2 and will explain how such communications enablers would be able to support a “relative navigation” function similar to the one available in military data link technologies usinga geodetic grid. The feasibility of the proposed solution will be demonstrated on the basis of lessons learnt from military relative navigation and simulations which will evidence the technical performance/error parameters of the system in terms of ranging, bearing and horizontal positioning and other relevant QoS aspects. In addition, the multipath and co-site interference effects will be also discussed. Should the proposed solution be demonstrated as viable, it may open the door, not only for synergies leading to a more seamless aircraft equipage but also to the rationalization of aeronautical systems in the spectrum band 960-1215 MHz, which is highly congested and subject of stringent non-interference basis operational limitations

A dicotomia nacional / estrangeiro na arquitetura portuguesa da primeira metade do século XX: o papel da Exposição do Mundo Português

Coleção: Teatro do mundo, vol. 11Este trabalho tem o apoio financeiro do Projeto Lab2PT- Laboratório de Paisagens, Património e Território - AUR/04509 e da FCT através de fundos nacionais e quando aplicável do cofinanciamento do FEDER, no âmbito dos novos acordos de parceria PT2020 e COMPETE 2020 – POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007528

Exchange Market Pressure in African Lusophone Countries

This paper explores the credibility of exchange rate arrangements for the five African Portuguese-speaking (PALOP) countries. Our working hypothesis is that credibility necessarily implies low mean exchange market pressure (EMP), low EMP conditional volatility and low-severity EMP crises. In addition, economic fundamentals must account for EMP dynamics. We also seek evidence of a risk-return relationship for mean EMP and of “bad news” (negative shocks) having a greater impact on EMP volatility than “good news” (positive shocks). Using our econometric models, we are able to rank PALOP countries’ conditional volatility in ordinal terms. Our main conclusion is that countries with currency pegs, such as Guinea-Bissau (GB) and Cape Verde (CV), clearly have lower volatility when compared to those with managed floats and are therefore more credible. Moreover, EMP crises episodes under pegs are much less severe. We find that economic fundamentals correctly account for mean EMP in all countries and that the risk-return relationship is much more favourable for investors under currency pegs, as the increase in volatility is lower for the same rate of return. The exception to this finding is Mozambique (MOZ), which apparently has a risk-return profile akin to that enjoyed by countries with pegs. A plausible reason is that MOZ has the only managed float in our sample implementing monetary and exchange rate policy within the confines of an IMF framework, which establishes floors for international reserves and ceilings for the central bank’s net domestic assets. This intuition needs to be tested, however. EMP conditional volatility is generally driven by changes in domestic credit (lowers it) and foreign reserve changes (raises it). The first effect is more pronounced under currency pegs, but also under MOZ’s managed float. “Bad news” increases volatility more that “good news” only in the case of CV’s currency peg, which we take to be another sign of its credibility. A few striking cross-country comparisons also emerge in our analysis. Among countries with managed floats, we find that Angola (ANG) has the most severe EMP crises whilst MOZ has the least severe. São Tomé & Princípe (STP), meanwhile, lies between these two extremes but its EMP crises behaviour is clearly much closer to that of MOZ. STP’s credibility may also be improving since its volatility has declined as of 2002 and its level is now much closer to that of MOZ, whose managed float has lowest volatility of such arrangements.N/

Complications of fluidotherapy in patients with acute pancreatitis: A contribution

Introduction: Aggressive fluid therapy is frequently suggested in the treatment of acute pancreatitis. However, there is some controversy about the effect of this therapy concerning the development of clinical complications and the need for surgery. Objectives: To explore the relationship between fluid administration in the first 48 hours and the development of local or systemic complications, to contribute to clarifying some open questions on this subject. Methods: This study is based on records of 109 patients admitted to the Surgical High Dependency Unit of Tondela Viseu Hospital Centre, between 2007 and 2012, with the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. Data were explored, and statistical tests were used to identify variables that differentiate patients with complications. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves allowed to relate the amount of fluids at 48 hours with the occurrence of each complication. Logistic regression models were used to identify independent risk factors for each complication. Results: There was no significant relationship between fluid therapy at 48 hours with death nor with the occurrence of systemic complications. As opposed, fluid therapy at 48 hours revealed to be associated with local and late complications, presence of infection and need for surgery. Conclusion: High levels of fluid therapy in the first 48 hours were associated with the development of complications

Objectos - Persona

A partir de uma interligação entre as seguintes áreas de estudo, a Ilustração de Personagens, a Ligação entre Utilizador-Objecto-Utilizador e a construção de uma Memória Emocional que tem por base esta Ligação, desenvolveram-se três projectos (“Animar”, “Ratolas” e “Ballooney”) em contextos diferentes, explorando diferentes metodologias e processos de produção visando um menor Condicionalismo Projectual, constituindo este último, também, uma área de estudo desta dissertação. Com base nestas áreas pretende-se estudar, sobre o tema “Os Objectos- Persona”, a funcionalidade da Personagem nestes Objectos, a sua interligação com o “Complexo Funcional do Objecto”(Papanek), a sua utilização como forma de interacção pessoal e social através do seu “Design Emocional” (Norman) e, finalmente, quais as novas metodologias de produção a explorar numa filosofia “Maker” (Anderson), como Artesão Industrial, com o objectivo de reduzir o condicionalismo projectual existente na personalização do Design destes “Objectos-Persona”

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Internet Addiction Among Youth and Adults

This study aimed to compare emotional intelligence (EI) levels and Internet addiction (IA) by gender and age groups and to assess the predictive relationship between EI and IA. One thousand four hundred thirteen young people and adults participated in the study. Participants were between 17 and 81 years old (M = 38.70 years old, SD = 13.72 years old); 42.2% were male, whereas 57.5% were female. We used a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (Schutte, Malouff, & Bhullar, 2009), and the Internet Addiction Test (Young, 1998) as data collection instruments. Results showed that there is a weak, but statistically significant, negative relationship between EI and IA. We found higher levels of EI in older people and in women than in the youngest participants and in men. No relevant prevalence of IA was found in the participants of this study.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Annual Average Value of Solar Radiation and its Variability in Portugal

Solar resource assessment is essential for the different phases of solar energy projects, such as preliminary design engineering, financing including due diligence and, later, insurance phases. An important aspect is the long term resource estimation. This kind of estimation can only be obtained through the statistical analysis of long-term data series of solar radiation measurements, preferably ground measurements. This paper is a first step in this direction, with an initial statistical analysis performed over the radiation data from a national measurement network, consisting of eighty-nine meteorological stations. These preliminary results are presented in figures that represent the annual average values of Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI) and its Variability in the Portuguese continental territory. These results show that the South of Portugal is the most suitable area for the implementation of medium to large scale solar plants

Evapotranspiration from a Mediterranean evergreen oak savannah: The role of trees and pasture

Mediterranean evergreen oak woodlands of southern Portugal (montados) are savannah-type ecosystems with a widely sparse tree cover, over extensive grassland. Therefore, ecosystem water fluxes derive from two quite differentiated sources: the trees and the pasture. Partitioning of fluxes according to these different sources is necessary to quantify overall ecosystem water losses as well as to improve knowledge on its functional behaviour. In southern Iberia, these woodlands are subjected to recurrent droughts. Therefore, reaction/resilience to water stress becomes an essential feature of vegetation on these ecosystems. Long-term tree transpiration was recorded for 6 years from a sample of holm oak (Quercus ilex ssp. rotundifolia) trees, using the Granier sap flow method. Ecosystem transpiration was measured by the eddy covariance technique for an 11-month period (February to December 2005), partly coincident with a drought year. Pasture transpiration was estimated as the difference between ecosystem (eddy covariance) and tree (sap flow) transpiration. Pasture transpiration stopped during the summer, when the surface soil dried up. In the other seasons, pasture transpiration showed a strong dependence on rainfall occurrence and on top soil water. Conversely, trees were able to maintain transpiration throughout the summer due to the deep root access to groundwater. Q. ilex trees showed a high resilience to both seasonal and annual drought. Tree transpiration represented more than half of ecosystem transpiration, in spite of the low tree density (30 trees ha 1) and crown cover fraction (21%). Tree evapotranspiration was dominated by transpiration (76%), and interception loss represented only 24% of overall tree evaporatio

Drought-induced embolism in current-year shoots of two Mediterranean evergreen oaks

threatened by the increasing water deficits related to climate change. To contribute to the understanding of the capacity of these oaks to withstand severe drought we assessed the vulnerability to xylem embolism and the anatomical traits in current-year shoots. Data were collected in mature trees at two sites, in central/ coastal and southern/inland Portugal. In situ safety margins to hydraulic failure were evaluated from long-term predawn and midday leaf water potential records. Results showed that xylem vulnerability to embolism was similar in Q. ilex and Q. suber. The 50% loss in hydraulic conductivity (Wxyl,50PLC) was observed at xylem water potentials of 2.9 and 3.2 MPa in shoots of Q. suber and Q. ilex, respectively. Values of mean vessel diameter of Q. suber shoots at both sites suggest an intra-species adaptation to the local water availability, with larger vessels at the more mesic site. In situ hydraulic safety margins observed in shoots showed that, even during the driest periods, both oaks lived comfortably above the most critical embolism thresholds. However, the hydraulic safety margins were narrower in the driest site. Results are relevant to the understanding of survival, growth, and functional behaviour of evergreen oaks in Mediterranean climates, under recurrent/seasonal drought condition