Repositório RCAAP

With this master dissertation we intended to offer our contribute to a wider display and questioning of Danto's theory in Portugal. The text is divided into five major parts: In the first chapter we introduced the theme and define the aims of the thesis. In the second, we place Danto's thought within the context of Analytical Aesthetics. We pin down characteristics aspects of Analytical Aesthetics and underline Danto's thesis (reviewed in the 4th chapter, which states that the distinction between undecidables is the philosophical activity itself. In the third chapter we deal with the problem of the definition of art, describing and reviewing Danto's contribute and confronting it with the theses of authors like Plato and Aristotle, Gombrich, Croce and Collingwood, Clive Bell, Moritz Weitz, George Dickies Monroe Beardsley and Ted Cohen. We emphasise particularly Noel Carroll discussion of Danto's theses and conclude by defending That Danto sets up necessary conditions, but not a sufficient condition, which would allow us to establish an essential definition of art. In the fourth, we analyse the thesis of the "end of art". We approach Danto's vision of the history of art following up the conceptions defended by Vasari and by Clement Greenberg. We refer to the Hegelian character of Danto's thesis, as well as to the review to which it is subjected by Joseph Margolis and Noel Carroll. We consider that the thesis of the end of art is not arguable and, therefore, cannot be used as a favourable argument to the principle of the definability of art. Finally, in the last chapter, we synthesise the problems we have dealt with, we mention briefly Jerrold Levinson's historical definition of art and we ascertain that the problem of the definition of art is a question which remains open

The study of the museological lacks and the needs of D. Lopo de Almeida Municipal Museum (LAMM), in Abrantes, place that preserves the collective memory, was the touch-stone for the accomplishment of its history and of a new museological programming that determines a new organization of the exhibition, the distribution of the spaces, the management and the real functioning. Together, the movable and immovable historical heritage of Abrantes' historical center had been evaluated, with the only aim of establishing a net of museums in the city and, in the future, in the administrative subdivisions of the district of Abrantes. For such, we had to plan/work out purposes and common museological proceedings. Soon, for that, inherent concepts to the museology and the museography had been applied, such as: the concept of Museum, the concept of Visitable collection and the one of Network museums. Finally, a possible way to the contemporary art collection that the Municipality has in its ownership is traced. It will be placed in the "Cameiro" building, and will be denominated Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). In this same building will function the coordinating instance of the Network of Museums of Abrantes

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This work consists in a museum project for the preservation and valorisation of a large neglected cultural property related to Portuguese courts of law and Justice. This proposal appears as a natural sequence of a project for the registration and cataloguing of a large number of courts' cultural goods, developed by the author in professional terms in an institution of the Justice department. The inventory includes an important art collection related to Justice, courts furniture, objects and documentation. The solution presented for the Domus Ivstitiae Museum ("House of Justice" in Latin), consists in a wide net museum structure, based on a main administrative unit for the administration and management and on a structure of different levels of museums' units located in court houses all around the country, that for their historical and artistic value justify the cultural program. For its implantation and for the nature and interest of its contents (history, art and anthropology areas), this museum has a national feature. Although its roots are strongly related to the registration and conservation of courts cultural holdings, the museum's objectives were defined with the social purpose of delivering Justice closer to the common citizen. Therefore this museum's concept implies the establishment of a consistent program for social and cultural activities and services. It intends to be a project for citizenship. Finally, this work is a way of remembering the urgent need to preserve the memory of Justice, which legacy has ever since been widely forgotten and neglected

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Long-term potentiation (LTP), considered the neurophysiological basis for learning and memory, is facilitated by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), an action more evident when LTP is evoked by weak θ-burst stimuli and dependent on co-activation of adenosine A2A receptors (A2AR), which are more expressed in aged rats. As θ-burst stimuli also favor LTP in aged animals, we hypothesized that enhanced LTP in aging could be related to changes in neuromodulation by BDNF. The magnitude of CA1 LTP induced by a weak θ-burst stimuli delivered to the Schaffer collaterals was significantly higher in hippocampal slices taken from 36 to 38 and from 70 to 80-week-old rats, when compared with LTP magnitude in slices from 4 or 10 to 15-week-old rats; this enhancement does not impact in cognitive improvement as aged rats revealed an impairment on hippocampal-dependent learning and memory performance, as assessed by the Morris water maze tests. The scavenger for BDNF, TrkB-Fc, and the inhibitor of Trk phosphorylation, K252a, attenuated LTP in slices from 70 to 80-week-old rats, but not from 10 to 15-week-old rats. When exogenously added, BDNF significantly increased LTP in slices from 4 and 10 to 15-week-old rats, but did not further increased LTP in 36 to 38 or 70 to 80-week-old rats. The effects of exogenous BDNF on LTP were prevented by the A2AR antagonist, SCH58261 (7-(2-phenylethyl)-5-amino-2-(2-furyl)-pyrazolo-[4,3-e]-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine). These results indicate that the higher LTP magnitude observed upon aging, which does not translate into improved spatial memory performance, is a consequence of an increase in the tonic action of endogenous BDNF.

Many countries, including Portugal, are currently dealing with budget cuts and a shortage of resources in the health sector, while the demand for health care services is increasing. The Group of Health Centres (GHC) of the Northen Lisbon faces the challenge of priortizing community care programmes in order to decide wich programmes to fund. We describe the development with the GHC of a Multi-criteria model to allocate human resources in community care programmes (MARCCO). Building MARCCO was a socio-technical process using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) in a decision conferencing environment. The GHC used the results obtained by MARCCO to select programmes and to redesign its information system. MARCCO contributes to the literature by showing how a constructive approach using MCDA methods and decision conferencing is an alternative to conventional approaches used in the prioritization of interventions in the health care sector.

Esta dissertação teve como objectivo avaliar a transmissão das ideias e da obra de náutica e navegação do cosmógrafo e matemático Pedro Nunes. Sabe-se que os textos que mandou publicar, em 1537 e 1566, tiveram uma boa aceitação e foram conhecidos em círculos eruditos europeus. No entanto, devido à natureza teórica desses textos e por terem sido na sua maior parte escritos em latim, a historiografia levantou algumas dúvidas quanto à sua real difusão e impacto junto dos menos eruditos, nomeadamente ao nível dos práticos das coisas do mar. Essas dúvidas deram azo a questões que importava clarificar para se entender melhor a influência da obra de Nunes na navegação e marinharia do seu tempo. Procurou-se nesta tese avaliar a existência de indícios dessa transmissão e divulgação de conhecimento científico; perceber que canais, mecanismos, pessoas e contextos foram responsáveis por esses fenómenos; investigar que tipo de conhecimentos foi difundido, transmitido e assimilado; e mesmo estimar em que medida os contributos científicos de Pedro Nunes foram introduzidos na prática dos marinheiros. Para dar respostas a estas questões, seguiram-se duas vias de investigação. Uma primeira centrou-se na avaliação da acção directa de Nunes enquanto titular do cargo de cosmógrafo. Desse desempenho, chegaram até nós escassos registos. Não obstante, a partir dos indícios identificados e de novas fontes construiu-se uma imagem mais completa do impacto dessa actividade. Uma segunda via procurou avaliar em que medida e de que forma as ideias, técnicas e resultados de Pedro Nunes foram incorporados nos trabalhos de outros – nomeadamente cosmógrafos, professores de navegação e matemáticos – e em que contextos de prática cosmográfica e contextos educativos, em Portugal, Espanha e Inglaterra, durante os séculos XVI e XVII.

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Erythrocyte hyperaggregation, a cardiovascular risk factor, is considered to be caused by an increase in plasma adhesion proteins, particularly fibrinogen. We have recently reported a specific binding between fibrinogen and an erythrocyte integrin receptor with a β3 or β3-like subunit. In this study we evaluate the influence of erythrocyte aging on the fibrinogen binding. By atomic force microscopy-based force spectroscopy measurements we found that increasing erythrocyte age, there is a decrease of the binding to fibrinogen by decreasing the frequency of its occurrence but not its force. This observation is reinforced by zeta-potential and fluorescence spectroscopy measurements. We conclude that upon erythrocyte aging the number of fibrinogen molecules bound to each cell decreases significantly, due to the progressive impairment of the specific fibrinogen-erythrocyte receptor interaction. Knowing that younger erythrocytes bind more to fibrinogen, we could presume that this population is the main contributor to the cardiovascular diseases associated with increased fibrinogen content in blood, which could disturb the blood flow. Our data also show that the sialic acids exposed on the erythrocyte membrane contribute for the interaction with fibrinogen, possibly by facilitating its binding to the erythrocyte membrane receptor.

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O litoral português é um dos mais ameaçados pela erosão costeira na Europa, um fenômeno que deverá ser agravado pelas alterações climáticas, devido à subida do nível médio do mar e à alteração do regime das ondas na costa atlântica. A par desta fragilidade física, a zona costeira tem sido palco de uma acelerada pressão urbana e turística, que em Portugal se acentuou a partir dos anos 60. Este fenômeno gera uma condição de fragilidade social, que se vem associar a uma fragilidade política resultante da incapacidade do Estado para enfrentar com consistência a gestão do litoral. A principal resposta aos problemas do litoral tem sido o investimento em estruturas pesadas fortemente apoiado por fundos comunitários. Apesar deste tipo de investimento estar cada vez mais comprometido, devido à recessão económica e à perspetiva de redução dos fundos europeus. Partindo de três estudos de caso, a Norte, Centro e Sul, neste artigo abordamos a atual condição social da perceção do risco em três zonas instáveis do litoral português, nas quais foram instalados núcleos urbanos com forte motivação turística: Vagueira, Costa da Caparica e Quarteira. Apesar de terem em comum dinâmicas de crescimento recentes, estas zonas apresentam processos diferenciados de ocupação e erosão. O artigo aborda os três locais a partir da sua condição administrativa e dos efeitos das políticas públicas de ordenamento do litoral. E propõe uma reflexão sobre a necessidade de novos modelos institucionais de governança e de gestão costeira sustentáveis.

This thesis is submitted to option I (theoretical / practical) from the Master in Fine Arts. In this thesis, we try to acknowledge the relation between body and self, and the way this relation determines the definition of individuals. Body and self were, for certain times of the occidental history, realities seen as apart, such duality being expressed in the couples "body – soul" and "body – mind"; according to this logics, the body was the entity subordinated to the soul – mind. Modem times have re¬evaluated and regained the concept of "body" and have classified individuals through patterns like gender, race and class. In Post-Modem times, these definitions seem to have faded and, in this context, media have played a fundamental role, by spreading life-stiles that, at present, determine the inclusion of individuals in given elites. In this sense, we try to elaborate about the possibility for the post-modem body to, indeed, make the bridge between "body" and "self', departing from the modelling of a body that might answer to the expectations of the individual and that might, as well, appear as a way to effectively tear Modem categories apart. The work of plastic artists – and the reflection around the plastic work produced – stands as a leit moth, for discussion themes