EU Security Discourse: Creating New Regional Boundaries in the Mediterranean and Gulf Regions

The European Union (EU) as an international actor has slowly been incorporated into geopolitical reality, by academics and other international actors. This makes it all the more important to understand how the EU sees the world in which it interacts and what role security matters play in this construction. In this article we will analyse how the EU constructs regions. We will be looking at how the Mediterranean and the Gulf in particular are represented as regions by the EU. The EU relationship with the Mediterranean is quite developed, but as to the Gulf there is still much to do. This is slowly changing; recently the EU began considering a regional approach due to increasing security concerns. The current trend in discourse incorporates the Gulf countries into a wider Middle East, perhaps signalling the beginning of a coherent regional strategy for what could become another area of insecurity in EU eyes.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Scholarship SFRH/BD/30283/2006

First record of the crabs Pirimela denticulata (Montagu, 1808) and Xaiva biguttata (Risso, 1816) (Crustacea: Decapoda) from the Azores.

The crabs Pirimela denticulata (Montagu, 1808) and Xaiva biguttata (Risso, 1816) identified in stomach contents of striped red mullet, Mullus surmuletus (Linnaeus, 1758) are recorded for the first time in Azorean waters, extending their known distribution range. A total of 59 individuals of P. denticulata and 12 of X. biguttata were identified in 22 and 10 mullets, respectively

Remoção de algas através da eletroflotação: tratamento eletrolítico seguido de filtração direta no tratamento de água de abastecimento

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Ambiental

Euro-Mediterranean Securitization and EU Foreign and Defence Policy: Challenges for Mediterranean Regional Security

The emergence of the European Union (EU) as an international actor is an important development for Europeans, but also for the international community. The EU constitutes a new actor in international affairs. It goes beyond the nation state and seeks to construct a new international order based on rules. This new international actor must deal with a complex security environment, in particular in the Mediterranean region. This thesis seeks to determine how security perceptions in the region will influence the EU’s roles and responsibilities in the Mediterranean region as a new security actor. A detailed analysis of security discourse from both the EU and Southern Mediterranean shows that there are similar security concerns throughout the Mediterranean. Issues like terrorism or illegal immigration are securitised across the region, whereas issues like regional conflicts or weapons of mass destruction are considered security threats in specific areas, in particular the Eastern Mediterranean. Furthermore, security discourse also coexists with strong references to a common Mediterranean identity. This sharing of security perceptions and references to a common identity allows us to conclude that there is indeed a regional security complex in the Mediterranean. After determining the existence of a regional security complex in the Mediterranean, an analysis of the individual actors participating in the Euro- Mediterranean RSC, at different levels, was conducted. This analysis shows that the EU occupies a central role in the region as a global great power. Moreover, an analysis of the RSC in the Mediterranean region shows that it is an unstable security complex, susceptible to internal and external transformation in the medium to long term. As such, the EU could play a more substantial role in the Mediterranean, exercising greater influence to stabilise the region; leading the region away from instability and moving it towards a more institutional framework for conflict resolution. In this role, the EU will need to be more active throughout the region, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean. It must assume its position as a great power but with its particular capabilities and characteristics. The EU must then emphasise mediation and regional integration, including south-south integration in its policies towards the Southern Mediterranean.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologi

Tratamento de água eutrofizada através da ozoflotação

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Ambiental.A ozoflotação é um processo que associa a propriedade de oxidação do ozônio com os aspectos físicos da flotação, o que torna favorável sua utilização como pré-tratamento de águas eutrofizadas, a fim de minimizar os problemas operacionais apresentados nos sistema de tratamento de água por FD (Filtração Direta). Este trabalho estudou a ozoflotação em um sistema contínuo de tratamento de água, em uma instalação piloto montada no LALP/UFSC - Lagoa do Peri, onde as investigações experimentais apresentaram no fitoplâncton da água bruta da Lagoa do Perí, como característica predominante, as espécies de cianobactérias: C. raciborskii, Pseudanabaena sp, Planktolynbya sp e as cianotoxinas (extracelular) na água, como: a microcistina na concentração máxima de 0,56 g/L; a saxitoxina na concentração máxima de 24,1 g/L - STX e a cilindrospermopsina na concentração de 0,516 g/L, na forma intracelular. A unidade de ozoflotação, seguida de filtração, foi efetiva na remoção das microalgas, apresentando para as cianobactérias uma remoção de 79,2% na câmara de flotação, 75,9% na filtração do efluente ozoflotado e 95% de remoção geral do fitoplâncton, entre a água bruta e o efluente do filtro, demonstrando que o ozônio auxiliou na remoção dos filamentos de cianobactérias. Ficou evidenciada, também, a ausência de cianotoxinas com a aplicação de 3,7 e 4,1 mg/L de ozônio, produzindo um efluente com valores médios <0,67 uT para turbidez e <1 uH para cor aparente no efluente filtrado

The Role of WebQuests in Science Education for Citizenship

Science education for all aims at developing scientifically literate citizens. WebQuests are problem-solving activities that can promote the development of competences thought to be relevant for a responsible and well-informed citizenship. By solving WebQuests students may develop conceptual, epistemological and procedural knowledge as well as interpersonal skills and ‘learn how to learn’. This article discusses the role of WebQuests in facilitating the lower secondary school students’ understanding of science concepts, promoting their images of scientists and fostering their problem-solving abilities. Students’ reactions to this kind of educational resource are also analysed.Science education for all aims at developing scientifically literate citizens. WebQuests are problem-solving activities that can promote the development of competences thought to be relevant for a responsible and well-informed citizenship. By solving WebQuests students may develop conceptual, epistemological and procedural knowledge as well as interpersonal skills and ‘learn how to learn’. This article discusses the role of WebQuests in facilitating the lower secondary school students’ understanding of science concepts, promoting their images of scientists and fostering their problem-solving abilities. Students’ reactions to this kind of educational resource are also analysed