22th - 29th March, Vienna (Austria)

The present work project illustrates the culmination of several months of research and commitment of the Faculty of Law of NOVA University of Lisbon’s team in the 25th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. Through the following chapters we intend to describe this renowned competition by explaining what it consists of and how it is organized, namely, by exploring all the phases of the Moot, from the written memoranda to the oral pleadings in Vienna. Moreover, since the Vis Moot was a life changing experience for us, we intend to narrate our journey during this time period and also render our input on what could possibly be improved. To better understand this year’s Problem, we will approach the four issues introduced by the Vis Moot organisation, which will be addressed in both Claimant and Respondent’s perspective. These will afterwards be thoroughly discussed in the memoranda that were submitted by Nova’s team which are attached to this introductory report

Social vulnerability assessment in Madeira Island

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Geographic Information Systems and ScienceSocial Vulnerability is an area of growing interest among researchers and decision makers. As disaster losses mount, it emerged the understanding that disasters are not just a product of Hazards characteristics and Exposure, but also a Social construct that creates differentiate levels of ability to cope with, resist to and recover from extreme events. The assessment of a multidimensional and intangible phenomenon like Social Vulnerability is extremely complex and over the years a number of indexes have emerged as an attempt to reduce the phenomenon to a simple metric, temporal and spatially comparable. Social Vulnerability Index (SOVI) is a particularly robust and widely used index. A recent version of this algorithm, the Social Vulnerability to Natural and Technological Hazards Index (SOVI_NTH) addressed the caveat of having in the same SOVI Components variables regarding the socioeconomic attributes that make people vulnerable and the support structures and facilities that help them to resist and recover. Both indexes were implemented using the Hazards-of-Place model, that combines Social Vulnerability and Hazards Susceptibility to pinpoint areas where both have high scores. In this research we compared the results and the statistical performance of both indexes to determine their consistency. Additionally, we analysed the sensitivity to data aggregation in order to determine whether it is possible to use very small spatial statistical units to highlight asymmetries and niches of particularly high Social Vulnerability

Relationship between inoculum density of the nematophagous fungus Paecilomyces lilacinus and control of Meloidogyne arenaria on tomato

International audienc

Factores personales, deportivos y psicológicos en el ejercicio físico

Introdução: os benefícios do exercício físico (EF) são bem conhecidos. Contudo, mais de 60% da população mundial é fisicamente inativa ou ativa de forma insuficiente para atingir tais vantagens. Neste sentido, torna-se importante compreender os fatores envolvidos na prática de EF, de modo a promover a participação desportiva e a prevenir o abandono do exercício. Objetivo: analisar as diferenças num conjunto de variáveis psicológicas em função da tendência para efetuar EF e as variáveis preditoras do comportamento efetivo de EF. Métodos: participaram no estudo 454 praticantes de musculação, cardiofitness e atividades de ritmo de uma academia desportiva no norte de Portugal, tendo sido avaliadas três conjuntos de variáveis: a) pessoais (e.g., sexo idade e índice de massa corporal); b) desportivas (e.g., tempo anterior de prática de EF e frequência semanal anterior de prática de EF); e c) psicológicas (e.g., atitudes face ao EF, normas subjetivas face ao EF, perceção de controle comportamental, intenção de prática de EF, benefícios e custos do EF e planeamento da prática de EF). Resultados: os praticantes com maior regularidade de prática de EF apresentaram níveis mais elevados de perceção de controle comportamental, intenção de prática de EF e planeamento do EF, em comparação com os praticantes pouco ou nada regulares na atividade de EF. A idade, o tempo anterior de prática de EF, a frequência semanal anterior de prática de EF, as normas subjetivas e a perceção de controle comportamental foram preditores significativos do comportamento efetivo de EF. Conclusão: este estudo confirmou que os praticantes com maior regularidade de EF evidenciaram um padrão psicológico mais favorável relativamente à possibilidade de assumirem comportamentos estáveis de exercício. Por outro lado, os resultados demonstraram a natureza multifacetada dos fatores envolvidos no comportamento de EF.Introduction: the benefits of exercise are well known; however more than 60% of the world population is physically inactive or insufficiently active to achieve such benefits. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors involved in exercise in order to promote participation and avoid discontinuation. Objective: to analyze the differences in a set of psychological variables according the tendency to do exercise and the predictors of actual exercise behavior. Methods: this study involved 454 practitioners of bodybuilding, cardio-fitness and rhythm activities of a sport center in the north of Portugal. Three sets of variables were evaluated: a) personal (sex, age, and body mass index); b) athletic (previous practice time and weekly frequency of previous practice); and c) psychological (attitudes toward exercise, subjective norms toward exercise, perceived behavioral control, exercise purpose, pros and cons of exercise, and exercise planning). Results: those who practice exercise more regularly had higher levels of perceived behavioral control, intention to practice, and exercise planning compared with practitioners with little or no exercise regular activity. Age, previous practice time, weekly frequency of previous practice, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control were significant predictors of the actual exercise behavior. Conclusion: this study confirmed that more regular practitioners showed a more favorable psychological pattern regarding the possibility of assuming stable exercise behavior. Moreover, the results demonstrated the multifaceted nature of the factors involved in exercise behavior.Introducción: los beneficios del ejercicio físico (EF) son bien conocidos. Sin embargo, más del 60% de la población mundial es físicamente inactiva o insuficientemente activa para conseguir tales ventajas. En ese sentido, es importante entender los factores implicados en la práctica del EF, de manera a promover la participación en el deporte y prevenir el abandono del ejercicio. Objetivo: analizar las diferencias en un conjunto de variables psicológicas en función de la predisposición a realizar EF y los predictores del comportamiento efectivo de EF. Métodos: este estudio analizó 454 practicantes de musculación, cardiofitness y actividades de ritmo de una academia deportiva en el norte de Portugal. Se evaluaron tres conjuntos de variables: a) personales (sexo, edad e índice de masa corporal); b) deportivas (tiempo de la práctica anterior y frecuencia semanal de la práctica anterior) y c) psicológicas (actitudes hacia el EF, normas subjetivas hacia el EF, percepción del control de conducta, intención de práctica, costos y beneficios del EF y la planificación de la práctica. Resultados: los participantes con mayor regularidad de práctica de EF presentaron niveles más altos de percepción de control de conducta, intención de práctica y planificación de EF, en comparación con los participantes poco o nada regulares en la práctica. La edad, el tiempo de práctica anterior, la frecuencia semanal de la práctica anterior, las normas subjetivas y la percepción de control de conducta fueron predictores significativos del comportamiento efectivo de EF. Conclusión: este estudio confirmó que más participantes regulares mostraron un patrón psicológico más favorable en cuanto a la a la posibilidad de asumir un comportamiento estable de ejercicio. Además, los resultados demostraron la naturaleza polifacética de los factores implicados en el comportamiento del EF

Contributions of alternative agricultures to food security, profitability and sustainability : a narrative review

Numerous authors support conventional agriculture, arguing that it has helped feed an expanding population and reduce hunger. However, many criticize its reliance on external resources, stating that it is unsustainable and has detrimental effects on the environment and society. The main goals of this dissertation are to identify the current state of research on alternatives to conventional agriculture (from now on called “alternative agricultures”), specifically how these alternatives stack up against conventional agriculture in terms of achieving food security, farming profitability, and sustainability. Furthermore, an effort is also made to guide future research in order to be more helpful of reaching the socially shared objective of making agriculture sustainable. The results of this literature review, based on the gathered information, suggest that the performance of alternative agricultures in the three researched agricultural functions (food security, profitability and sustainability) is heavily context dependent. However, under some contexts, alternative agricultures can either provide better performance in one or more of these functions. Finally, several studies attempt to model worldwide transitions to alternative agricultures; however, these only discuss the global food supply, and fail to consider existing problems (such as logistic issues and/or income distribution) that are obstacles in achieving food security.Vários autores defendem a agricultura convencional, argumentando que esta possibilitou alimentar uma população crescente e reduzir a fome mundial. No entanto, muitos criticam a sua dependência de recursos externos, designando-a como insustentável e afirmando que esta tem efeitos negativos no ambiente e na sociedade. Os objetivos principais desta dissertação são determinar o estado atual da literatura no que toca a alternativas à agricultura convencional (a partir daqui serão designadas como “agriculturas alternativas”), mais especificamente em como estas se comparam à agricultura convencional no que toca a garantir segurança dos abastecimentos, lucro e sustentabilidade. A tese também procura guiar pesquisa futura, de forma a ser o mais útil possível para atingir o objetivo comum que é a agricultura sustentável. Os resultados desta revisão de literatura, baseados na informação recolhida, sugerem que o desempenho das agriculturas alternativas nas três funções agrícolas exploradas (segurança dos abastecimentos, lucro e sustentabilidade) é altamente dependente do contexto em que estas se aplicam. Mas, em alguns contextos, as agriculturas alternativas podem fornecer um melhor desempenho numa ou mais das funções mencionadas. Finalmente, várias publicações estimam transições mundiais para agriculturas alternativas; no entanto, estas apenas discutem o abastecimento alimentar global, e não consideram problemas existentes (por exemplo, problemas de logística e/ou distribuição de rendimentos) que são obstáculos para atingir a segurança dos abastecimentos

Padrões de interação sociedade e natureza: algumas peculiaridades do caso Brasileiro

The article explores some Brazilian typical society-environmental interaction patterns and the symbolical concepts of Nature related to it. The study was oriented in three directions – cultural, historical and economical. In a cultural point of view, it considers the relationship between the social-cultural system and attitudes concerning nature. Using a historical approach, it considers the connection between the concepts of Nature and the national state construction process, as well as the notions of national identityand memory. Finally it analyzes resource appropriation patterns related to the economical occupation of the Brazilian territory. The conclusions lead to evidence that some relation patterns and attitudes have prevailed for a long period of time. They show that one can see that in the Brazilian society-nature relationship there is a counter point between two ways of regarding Nature – an enchanted and a modernway, which can mean new possibilities of understaning environment and for political formulation in that area

Heat transfer evaluation of industrial pneumatic cylinders

Automatic positioning devices are worldwide used in tasks like handling or assembly, making them key components of modern manufacturing systems. Pneumatic solutions are usually less expensive than their electrical counterparts, are more reliable and require less maintenance. However, the complex nonlinear nature and high model order of pneumatic systems lead to a very difficult control task. These problems make model order reductions and simplifications a common practice in servo pneumatics. The heat transfer between air inside the cylinder and its environment is usually neglected or only indirectly accounted, since it varies with pressure, temperature and speed of the actuator, which makes its experimental assessment difficult. In this work we present a simple yet accurate procedure, based on a thermal time constant, enabling its evaluation. The procedure is validated by simulation studies and furthermore the heat conductance of three industrial actuators is experimentally determined

Predictors of exercise practice: from intention to exercise behavior

This study analyzed the predictor variables of participants’ intentions to exercise, subjective perception of exercise, and objective exercise behavior. For that it was adopted a cross-sectional design with follow-up measures of exercise behavior that was evaluated for a period of three months. The study included 304 participants (female = 198, 65%) aged between 14 to 73 years (M = 36.11; SD = 13.17) exercising in private fitness centers. We evaluated three sets of variables: personal (age and gender), physical activity (past exercise behavior), and psychological characteristics of participants (including variables from the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Transtheoretical Model, Self-determination Theory, and Emotional and Affective States Theory). The combination of independent variables most strongly predicted intention to exercise (71% of the variance), followed by subjective perceptions of exercise (38%), and last, by exercise behavior (16%). Results implicate the need to accommodate new variables and theoretical approaches to explain exercise behavior.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio