8,413 research outputs found
Reclamações ambientais em Aveiro, Portugal: atores, preocupações, padrão territorial e resoluções
No full textThis paper presents an environmental diagnosis based on public complaints on environmental
issues submitted to the Environmental Department of the Aveiro City Council, Portugal, between
2000 and 2005. It discusses the potential influences of these in local environmental planning
and governance. The paper has been organised into five sections. The first of these introduces
the study. The second section focuses on the conceptual approaches relating to environmental
grassroots movements, the main actors involved in these movements and the role played by
local government. It also contains a brief review of the most recent urban environmental
quality challenges in the European context together with a description of the main features of
the associated political and legal framework in Portugal. The third section describes the case
study and the methodology used. The results of the empirical study are detailed in the fourth
section. The final section critically analyses these results with emphases on the temporal
evolution of the submission of complaints, the actors involved, the local environmental problems
and their associated spatial pattern as well as the responses given by the City Council. This
information may then be used to provide a useful indicator for the perception of environmental
quality as well as a credible instrument for the visualisation and evaluation of local performance
in terms of environmental planning and management.AlBan Programme - n. E05M053040B
R&D, Capital Structure and Ownership concentration: evidence from Italian microdata.
No full textThe purpose of the article is to provide some evidence on the interconnection between capital structure, R&D investment and ownership concentration using a unique panel data-set of Italian firms. We study the effect of R&D intensity on leverage for two groups of firms which are different in terms of their degree of ownership concentration. Our results suggest for Public Limited Companies, a nonlinear relationship between R&D intensity and leverage, with the latter first increasing and then decreasing. Interestingly, the same result is not found to hold true for Private Limited Companies, which are characterized by a more concentrated ownership
Gli avantesti delle opere abbandonate. Georges Perec e la disseminazione dei fantasmi del romanzo
No full textThe abandoned work is a form of voluntary incompletion because the interruption of the writing process is decided by the author himself. Abandonment is preceded by considerations and traces that make the process intelligible, especially when identified in avant-textual documents in which the author often not only plans the construction of the text but also reasons about it by tracing the criticalities that condition its progress. The article aims to reflect on some aspects of Georges Perec's abandoned works, showing how these are integrated within the completed works through the processes of dissemination and proliferation
A forma da cidade e sua apropriação: análise propositiva de diretrizes de arquitetura da cidade para Cumbayá em Quito/Equador
No full textDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Urbanismo, História e Arquitetura da CidadeEste trabalho busca entender a relação entre as diversas formas que a cidade vem adquirindo com o passar do tempo e as formas de apropriação contemporâneas, a partir de discussão teórica de conceitos e critérios de autores que discutem o desempenho da forma da cidade em relação à apropriação dos espaços públicos. Com base neste debate, elegemos critérios relacionados à apropriação nas escalas da estrutura da cidade e da configuração dos lugares, e procedeu-se à caracterização e análise da cidade contemporânea de Quito para verificar padrões espaciais diretamente associados com uma apropriação positiva da cidade na cultura quitenha. A partir dos critérios selecionados e dos padrões positivos identificados, lançamos diretrizes de projeto de arquitetura da cidade para uma área de expansão da cidade contemporânea de Quito no Equador - a Paróquia de Cumbayá - buscando responder a critérios de bom desempenho da forma urbana que potencializem a apropriação de seus espaços públicos.The research seeks to understand the relationship between the different forms that the city has acquired over time and contemporary forms of appropriation, based on a theoretical discussion of concepts and criteria of authors who discuss the performance of the form of the city in relation to the appropriation of public spaces. Based on this debate, we selected criteria related to appropriation, both at the scale of city structure and at the scale of place configuration, and proceeded to the characterization and analysis of the contemporary city of Quito in a search to identify spatial patterns directly associated with a positive appropriation of the city in Quito´s culture. The selected criteria and the positive patterns identified oriented the design guidelines here proposed for the architectural design of the Paróquia of Cumbayá - an area of expansion in the city of Quito, Ecuador - in an attempt to comply with the criteria of good urban form performance so as to enhance the appropriation of its public spaces
“De ceca a meca: usos y variantes de una expresión a la luz de los estudios de corpus”
No full textDuring the past years corpus-based studies have achieved great importance, especially thanks to the influence of its employment in the English language. Although it is in the linguistic works where the maximum development of its application has been observed, it would be a mistake to minimize the possibilities that its use can offer for the philological and literary analysis. In this paper I intend to call attention on this issue; more precisely I intend to investigate the literary and non-literary uses of the idiom “De (la) Ceca a (la) Meca”, its variants, its modified forms and its meaning; the starting point will be the systematic examination of the CORDE by Real Academia Española, without neglecting other sources.En los últimos años los estudios basados en corpus textuales han tenido una gran relevancia, sobre todo gracias al estímulo de la crítica anglosajona. Aunque sea en los trabajos de lingüística donde se ha observado el desarrollo máximo de su aplicación, no hay que minimizar las posibilidades que su empleo puede ofrecer para el análisis filológico y literario. En este trabajo me propongo llamar la atención sobre esta cuestión y, en particular, pretendo indagar los usos literarios (y no solo) del fraseologismo “De (la) Ceca a (la) Meca”, sus variantes y formas modificadas y su significado e interpretaciones, a partir de la consulta sistemática del CORDE y otros repertorios en línea de la Real Academia Española, pero sin desdeñar otras fuentes. Se llegará a ofrecer una hipótesis del origen de esta locución
Organizational Climate as Performance Driver: Health Care Workers’ Perception in a Large Hospital
No full textRecently health care (HC) organizations have increasingly embarked on organizational climate (OC) assessment with the intent to improve their efficiency and the quality of the delivered services. This is important; however, it is even if more crucial to ensure that workers engaged in the evaluation process are aware of the importance of their fruitful engagement in this investigation as well as of its potential benefits. From the management viewpoint, this is crucial to plan and implement management initiatives able to create a great place to work. The purpose of this paper is to shed empirical light on how, in effect, HC workers perceive OC for itself and as a performance driver to assess and manage. The study was carried out through an action research (AR) project, which included the use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Key phases of the AR project were some focus groups and a survey. During the focus groups, several methods and approaches were adopted for getting opinions from people and animating discussion. About the survey, a total sample of 560 HC workers was investigated.
The AR project has shown that even if HC workers intuitively conceive OC as an important performance driver, the meaning of the construct is not completely clear. Moreover, a good level of awareness among HC workers about how and why OC can improve individual and organizational performance represents a key issue to address in evaluating and managing OC
Projeto de estruturas de barragens de gravidade de concreto por meio de métodos computacionais: visão geral e metodologia
No full textTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Civil, Florianópolis, 2011O emprego de modelagem computacional por meio do Método dos Elementos Finitos (MEF) se faz necessário no projeto de barragens de gravidade de concreto, quando se deseja considerar a deformabilidade da fundação e as subpressões por meio de critérios mais aprofundados, e/ou quando na existência de planos de descontinuidades em fundações de barragens, dentre outros. No entanto, as verificações de estabilidade global de barragens de gravidade de concreto por meio de modelagem computacional pelo MEF ainda suscita dúvidas e discussões. As pesquisas relacionadas ao assunto são de diferentes enfoques e áreas de conhecimento e muitas vezes não geram de imediato contribuições para o projeto de BGC por não abordarem a visão geral do problema. Este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar uma visão geral do problema de projeto de BGC e discutir metodologias para a análise computacional dessa estrutura. A visão geral do problema é feita a partir de um levantamento do "estado da arte" de projeto de BGC, incluindo alguns aspectos que são importantes e não são abordados nas referências pesquisadas. Em seguida, a visão geral do problema é utilizada para a discussão de metodologias de projeto de BGC por meio de programas computacionais. Em suma, mostra-se que as metodologias para a modelagem computacional de BGC e respectivos casos de carregamentos, com enfoque de projeto, envolvem uma previsão de fenômenos nos modelos numéricos muito maior do que a modelagem computacional segundo as publicações do Comitê Ad Hoc Sobre Aspectos Computacionais de Análise e Projeto de Barragens - CIGB/ICOLD. Apesar de não desenvolver e aplicar todas as teorias abordadas, este trabalho traz contribuições importantes para o projeto de barragens de gravidade de concreto, como a sistematização da validação e justificação dos modelos para projeto e a identificação dos aspectos que ainda precisam de maiores estudos para serem aplicados em projeto e pesquisa, entre outros.Computational modeling by means of the Finite Element Method (FEM) is required in the design of concrete gravity dams (CGDs) when, for example, the deformability of the foundation and the uplift pressure are considered by means of more refined criteria and/or there are discontinuity planes in the dam foundations. However, the verification of the global stability of CGDs by means of computational modeling by FEM still raises doubts and discussions. Studies related to this subject have adopted different approaches and areas of knowledge and often do not generate immediate contributions to the design of CGDs since they do not consider an overview of the problem. The aim of this thesis is to present an overview of the problem of CGD design and discuss the methodologies available for structural computational analysis. A general overview of the problem is gained from a survey of the state of the art of CGD design, including some aspects that are important but have not been dealt with in the relevant publications. This overview of the problem is then used as a basis for the discussion of the methodologies available for CGD design by means of computational methods. In summary, it is demonstrated that the methodologies applied in the computational modeling of CGDs and the respective cases of loading, focusing the design aspects, involve predictions of the numerical modeling phenomena which are much greater than those of the computational modeling carried out according to the publications of the Ad Hoc Committee on Computational Aspects of Analysis and Design of Dams - ICOLD. Although all of the theories approached are not developed and applied, this study provides important contributions to the design of CGDs, including the systematization of the validation of models for design and the justification of their application, as well as the identification of the aspects that still require further study in order to be successfully applied in design and research, among others
Vitamin D deficiency and primary hyperparathyroidism
No full textVitamin D via its receptor has essential actions on parathyroid cells, inhibiting PTH secretion, and parathyroid cell proliferation. While the effects of vitamin D depletion in the pathogenesis of secondary hyperparathyroidism in elderly individuals or in the occurrence of parathyroid hyperplasia in patients with renal insufficiency are well established, the association between hypovitaminosis D and primary hyperparathyroidism (P-HPT) has only recently become appreciated. In different cohorts of patients with P-HPT, vitamin D deficiency has been recently associated with higher PTH levels, larger adenomas, and a more severe
phenotype (including osteitis fibrosa cystica) as well as negative post-operative outcomes following parathyroidectomy. Despite current guidelines recommend measurement of serum 25OHD (25-hydroxy-cholecalciferol) in P-HPT and their repletion if the levels are <20 ng/ml, future well-designed trials of vitamin D supplementation in P-HPT patients with coexisting vitamin D deficiency are needed to evaluate the risk/benefit profile of this treatment
“Tree-shaped” Copolymers Based on Poly(ethylene glycol) and Atactic and Isotactic Polylactides: Synthesis and Characterization
No full text‘‘Tree-shaped’’ copolymers constituted by an m-PEG trunk and poly(L-lactide) or poly(D,L- lactide) branches were obtained. The m-PEG was functionalized at the terminal chain with two (G1) and four (G2) hydroxyl groups, then reacted with Al(CH3)3 to produce aluminum alkoxide species, active as initiators in the ROP of L- or D,L-lactide. Copolymers were characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, GPC and DSC, and compared with analogous linear copolymers. Characterization of a low-molecular-weight G1 copolymer confirmed the architecture. GPC curves showed monomodal and narrow molecular weight distribution for all the samples, while the melting points of the copolymers seemed more correlated to the archi- tecture than to the composition
Does corruption relieve foreign investors of the burden of taxes and capital controls?
No full textIn a sample of fourteen source countries making bilateral investments in forty five countries, the author finds that taxes, capital controls, and corruption, all have large, statistically significant negative effects on foreign investment. Moreover, there is no robust support in the data for the"efficient grease"hypothesis - that corruption helps attract foreign investment by reducing firms'tax burden and the irritant of capital controls.International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Capital Markets and Capital Flows,Decentralization,Fiscal&Monetary Policy,Economic Theory&Research,Economic Theory&Research,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Governance Indicators,National Governance,Capital Flows
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