Repositório RCAAP

This doctoral thesis consisted of a cultural-rhetorical-cognitive approach to the work of the English street artist Banksy and in particular of his graffiti. By examining the aesthetics and function of Banksy’s graffiti in both street and contemporary art, this study has shown that Banksy’s graffiti differ from traditional graffiti in three aspects. First, Banksy’s graffiti created a new environment for street art on the contemporary art circuit. Second, Banksy’s graffiti enhanced the function of self-expression art, attributed to traditional graffiti, and became a means communication media used by the artist to comment, reinterpret, and criticise socio-political issues that have occurred worldwide. Third, Banksy’s graffiti came to appear as ‘creative weapons’ in the artist’s social-political activism. Regarding the name BANKSY, this study has demonstrated that in addition to being the authorial figure reference of the anonymous and most famous street artist today, it has simultaneously played an 'agency' role in the context of street art. In this study, it was also delimitated Banksy's artistic phases between the years 1993 and 2018, based on the growth of his artistic ethos and the pathos he awoke in his audience. Finally, this thesis presented a multimodal cognitive analysis of eleven selected Banksy’s graffiti, which represent each of the fronts of the artist’s socio-political activism, demonstrating, in the context of cognitive linguistics, some plausible interpretations of the visual metaphorical representations of these graffiti. For the construction of the theoretical framework, in each chapter, different theories were grouped to compound the basis of analysis. In the first chapter, theories of cultural studies (HALL, 2005, BARKER; JANE, 2016, BARKER, 2014, STOREY, 2015 and BARNARD, 1998) were associated with theories of communication and media (MCLUHAN, 1951/2001, 1964 / 2015, 2005, MCLUHAN; FIORE, 1967,1968, MCLUHAN; POWERS, 1989) to inscribe Banksy's graffiti within the context of popular culture and characterise them as media of communication. In the second chapter, Michel Foucault's (1977) reflections on authorship and Anthony Giddens's (1984) concept of ‘agency’ were brought together to characterize the name BANKSY as an authorial figure, within the scope of contemporary art, and ‘agent’ in the field of street art. Additionally, from Guy Deboard’s (2002) discussion of ‘spectacle agent’, Banksy’s anonymity was qualified as a means of guaranteeing his freedom of creation. In the third chapter, the Aristotelian canons ethos and pathos (KENNEDY, 1991) were used to locate the rhetorical resources Banksy used throughout his career and to define his artistic phases. Finally, in the fourth chapter, the association of Charles Forceville's theory of multimodal metaphors (1994, 1996, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016 and 2017), with the concept of irony by D.C. Muecke (1980), and the study of visual intertextuality by Eduardo Cintra Torres (2015) converged to form the theoretical framework used in the multimodal cognitive analysis of eleven selected Banksy’s graffiti. This analysis revealed that Banksy's aesthetics assumes a configuration of 'artistic weapons' against the capitalist hegemony of the globalized world and, at the same time, it inspires and contributes to expanding his audience’s social-political awareness, at a ‘glocal’ level.

Stroke is a significant cause of death and disability in developed countries. It is a multifactorial disease, resulting from the interplay between genes and well-known life-style/environmental risk factors. Numerous studies have attempted to identify the genetic risk factors predisposing to stroke, but few have investigated the genetic factors involved in stroke outcome. This work aimed at the identification of genes contributing to stroke and influencing patient’s outcome after three months. Four inflammatory genes (IL1B, IL6, MPO and TNF) and two genes involved in the nitric oxide metabolism (NOS1 and NOS3) were tested for association with stroke. The results suggest that the IL6 and MPO genes influence stroke susceptibility through independent effects and non-additive interactions. Furthermore, they provided novel evidence for the involvement of the NOS1 gene in stroke susceptibility. Several studies have shown the important impact of oxidative stress, inflammation, angiogenesis, neurogenesis, neurovascular damage and neurovascular remodeling for stroke-associated brain damage and/or stroke recovery. Association analyses were thus carried out to assess the role of candidate genes involved in inflammatory processes (IL1B, IL6, MPO and TNF) and oxidative stress (NOS1 and NOS3), as well as matrix metalloproteinase genes (MMP2 and MMP9) and growth factor genes (BDNF, FGF2 and VEGFA) in patient’s outcome at three months. MMP2 genetic variants were found associated with patient’s outcome, and the results also indicate that two epistatic interactions between the BDNF and FGF2 genes and between the FGF2 and VEGFA genes influence this phenotype. A genome-wide association study was performed in stroke outcome using DNA pooled samples to provide novel insights into the mechanisms involved in stroke recovery. The BBS9 and GLIS3 genes were found associated with patient’s outcome at three months. Taken together, these results suggest that stroke susceptibility and outcome are modulated by a combination of main gene effects and gene-gene interactions, independently of stroke risk factors and/or severity parameters, highlighting the complexity of mechanisms predisposing to stroke and influencing recovery afterwards.

The A.A. report the case of a 32 year-old woman, in whom systemic lupus erythematosus had been diagnosed 5 years previously. The patient had been in a relatively quiescent phase of her disease when she suddenly died from fulminant uncontrolled shock and multi-organ failure. An SLE disease exacerbation or sepsis, in which the inflammatory process induced multiple leucothombotic phenomena, may have been responsible for the clinical evolution observed.

While citizen participation in policymaking is on the rise worldwide, the scholarly debate centring around its evaluation has not developed to the same extent. The article discusses the methodology and findings of the evaluation of the project "Portugal Participa: Caminhos para a Inovação Societal" which started at the end of 2014, and was implemented in 2015 and 2016, in Portugal. As the project promoted actions at both national and local levels, the evaluation accounted for both layers with a major focus on the analysis of procedures and outputs to examine its success. Through the application of a multi-method approach - data collection and analysis, cost-effectiveness assessment, interviews, pre-post surveys, and counterfactual focus groups - involving a wide array of agents - political representatives, civil servants, NGOs, citizens, national academia, and the funding sponsor - findings have helped retrieve three main insights that aim to contribute to future research on the evaluation of citizen participation in policymaking, which should shed light on: the (re)connection of multiple agents; the role within the governance systems; and the pursuit of social inclusion.

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New Zealand is the southernmost limit of the common dolphin's (genus Delphinus) distribution in the Pacific Ocean. In this area, common dolphins occur in both coastal and oceanic habitats, exhibit seasonal and resident occurrence, and present high morphological variability. Here we investigated the population structure and the taxonomic identity of common dolphins (Delphinus sp.) within New Zealand waters using 14 microsatellite loci, 577 bp of the mtDNA control region, and 1,120 bp of the mtDNA cytochrome b gene across 90 individuals. We found high genetic variability and evidence of population expansion. Phylogenetic analyses conducted to clarify the taxonomic status of New Zealand common dolphins did not show any clustering reflecting geographic origin or morphotypes. The microsatellite analysis showed genetic differentiation between Coastal and Oceanic putative populations, while mtDNA revealed significant genetic differentiation only between the Hauraki Gulf and other putative groups. Our results suggest that differences in habitat choice and possible female site fidelity may play a role in shaping population structure of New Zealand common dolphins.

Delphinine dolphins arose via a recent, rapid radiation, probably within the last four million years. Although molecular phylogenies are increasingly well resolved, patterns of morphology-ecology-geography are hard to link to phylogeny or to translate into taxonomy. Such problems might be tackled through understanding the drivers of the delphinine radiation. Here, we examine delphinine historical biogeography using the phylogeny of McGowen et al. (Mol Phylogenet Evol 53:891–906, 2009) as our working hypothesis. We used the “Spatial Analysis of Vicariance” method to delimit modern distribution patterns, including disjunctions involving sister nodes in the Delphininae. The analysis identified disjunct sister nodes, allowing some interpretation of Delphininae biogeography. The Central American Seaway was probably an important gateway for early delphinids, but the succeeding “hard” barrier of the Panama Isthmus had little influence. Southern African waters form the Atlantic-Indo-Pacific gateway, which is sometimes considered a “soft” barrier because of the variation in the Benguela and Agulhas currents, in turn driven by tectonic changes and/or Pleistocene glacial and interglacial cycles. The latter cycles probably fragmented coastal habitats, allowing allopatric speciation. Geological patterns of turnover in Southern Ocean diatoms, which link to physical oceanic change, closely match the main cluster of delphinine divergences. The Eastern Pacific Barrier, and perhaps the associated Humboldt Current and equatorial “cold tongue,” affect modern distributions, but cause and effect are poorly understood. Future research should involve molecular-morphological phylogenetics for all species, subspecies, and ecomorphs. Complete distributions must be known for all taxa to understand how vicariance and dispersal shaped the distribution of delphinines.

Reconstruction of the demographic and evolutionary history of populations assuming a consensus tree-like relationship can mask more complex scenarios, which are prevalent in nature. An emerging genomic toolset, which has been most comprehensively harnessed in the reconstruction of human evolutionary history, enables molecular ecologists to elucidate complex population histories. Killer whales have limited extrinsic barriers to dispersal and have radiated globally, and are therefore a good candidate model for the application of such tools. Here, we analyse a global data set of killer whale genomes in a rare attempt to elucidate global population structure in a nonhuman species. We identify a pattern of genetic homogenisation at lower latitudes and the greatest differentiation at high latitudes, even between currently sympatric lineages. The processes underlying the major axis of structure include high drift at the edge of species' range, likely associated with founder effects and allelic surfing during postglacial range expansion. Divergence between Antarctic and non-Antarctic lineages is further driven by ancestry segments with up to four-fold older coalescence time than the genome-wide average; relicts of a previous vicariance during an earlier glacial cycle. Our study further underpins that episodic gene flow is ubiquitous in natural populations, and can occur across great distances and after substantial periods of isolation between populations. Thus, understanding the evolutionary history of a species requires comprehensive geographic sampling and genome-wide data to sample the variation in ancestry within individuals.

Inserido no âmbito do Mestrado em Ensino de Geografia, na unidade curricular de Iniciação à Prática Profissional III (IE/IGOT, UL), o presente relatório apresenta a experiência didática conduzida na Prática de Ensino Supervisionada junto da turma do 7º C do Colégio de S. Tomás de Lisboa. Esta instituição de ensino, com implantação urbana, proporcionou um objeto de estudo adequado aos interesses de investigação, e reflete as perceções de um grupo alunos de elevado nível socioeconómico. Assim, considerando os conteúdos desenvolvidos no domínio didático Áreas de fixação humana, e no sentido de alargar o espetro do que é Geografia, a intervenção pedagógica procurou que os alunos partilhassem as suas perceções sobre Lisboa por meio de mapas mentais (diagnóstico e final), questionários e diários. Estes instrumentos foram aplicados ao longo das sessões lecionadas de forma a (re)construir a Imagem da Cidade de Lisboa, segundo três dimensões de análise: perceção espacial, perceção cognitiva e a perceção sensorial-afetiva. Trata-se de um tópico de investigação que carece de exploração pela literatura, nomeadamente orientada para o contexto escolar. O tratamento e interpretação dos dados recolhidos evidencia uma imagem da cidade marcada pelos elementos definidores de uma paisagem: landmarks, fronteira natural, eixos de comunicação, espaços verdes e património cultural. Como tal, a perceção dos alunos é predominantemente espacial, subalternizando as perceções cognitiva e sensorial-afetiva.

Worldwide, active aging policy calls for greater participation of senior citizens in the social, economic, and political realms. Despite emerging evidence of initiatives engaging senior citizens in social activities, little is known about the use of participatory approaches in the design and/or implementation of policies that matter to older citizens. This article identifies initiatives facilitating the civic participation of older people in policy-making in European Union member and associate states, drawing on a review of the literature, consultation of national policy experts, and exemplary case studies. Four main patterns of senior civic participation are identified: adopting consultative or co-decisional participatory approaches in policy design or policy implementation. The four are represented to varying degrees at different geographical levels (national, regional, local), with different actor configurations (appointed, elected/nominated, corporate representation), and with varying degree of institutionalization (temporary/permanent). Case studies illustrate approaches taken to enhance the quality and effectiveness of public services for senior citizens. Future research should strengthen this line of enquiry to cast further light on conditions facilitating the civic participation of senior citizens.

Vivemos a versão acelerada do que Hobsbawm (1994) denominou «a era dos extremos». Testemunhamos mudanças económicas, ambientais, políticas e sociais (e quiçá, civilizacionais) profundas. Importa por isso, questionar os dispositivos teóricos da Geografia Económica para deles extrairmos chaves para observar o presente e o futuro. Neste capítulo explicam-se os fundamentos das variações que marcaram a Geografia Económica nas décadas posteriores à fundação da Associação Portuguesa de Desenvolvimento Regional (APDR) em 1984. Destacamos neste texto as derivações, Nova Geografia Económica, Geografia Económica Relacional e Geografia Económica Evolutiva para desembocarmos no recente esforço de convergência em torno da Geografia Económica pró-Resiliência Evolutiva. Nos sistemas capitalistas, o desenvolvimento regional convive de perto com a propensão para a(s) crise(s). A Geografia Económica pró-Resiliência Evolutiva assenta em dispositivos teóricos e metodológicos valiosos para pensar sobre os impactos da convivência recorrente das economias regionais com os efeitos da sincronização de diferentes tipos de eventos disruptivos.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about profound changes in the way of life for the individual and for communities. These changes, combined with the growing fear and uncertainty of infecting or being infected and the fear of losing employment or income due to the unpredictability of the disease's evolution, have been identified as potential risk factors for mental health (MH) and psychological well-being (WB) of populations as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and burnout. Several studies have identified health professionals at the forefront of medical care and infected individuals as risk groups for psychological distress. The SM-COVID19 project aimed to characterize MH and psychological BE in the context of the pandemic of the population residing in Portugal particular of the groups at greatest risk. This is a cross-sectional observational study, with a longitudinal component, with data collection through a population-based online survey. The following outcomes were selected for assessment namely psychological WB, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, burnout, presentism and resilience, as well as relevant determinants of MS. As part of the dissemination and communication of the study, several products were created. SM-COVID19 represents a contribution to the knowledge about MH of the Portuguese population in the context of the pandemic. The results obtained constitute solid evidence for the elaboration of recommendations, aiming to mitigate the identified MH problems, as well as to promote psychological WB in times of pandemic.

O objetivo geral do projeto a realizar no âmbito da presente dissertação consistiu no desenvolvimento de uma plataforma WEBGIS e a discussão sobre a interação entre a participação pública e os sistemas de informação geográfica (PPGIS). Tendo como base o projeto MARGov, que visa a criação de um canal de diálogo entre os atores locais, buscando fomentar o envolvimento e a colaboração de todos para uma gestão sustentável do Parque Marinho Luiz Saldanha, a plataforma WEBGIS desenvolvida surge como uma forma de auxiliar na coleta do conhecimento dos atores locais e abre uma via de comunicação georreferenciada acerca dos assuntos relacionados ao Parque Marinho. Com vista ao enquadramento dos assuntos discutidos durante o trabalho, foi feita uma revisão bibliográfica acerca dos conceitos e metodologias adotadas, bem como um breve levantamento de tecnologias existentes e projetos já desenvolvidos sobre o tema. A abordagem proposta faz o uso de metodologias de sistemas de informação geográfica aplicadas à participação pública, tecnologias de desenvolvimento WEBGIS, bem como a adoção de um processo de desenvolvimento de software que se adequou aos prazos do projeto MARGov. Ao fim, se apresentam alguns resultados do uso desta plataforma WEBGIS no âmbito do projeto, assim como a discussão dos pressupostos levantados no início e algumas conclusões gerais acerca do trabalho.

The following study, conveys the needs, of a project that unfolds itself onto two types of mutually symbiotic research. The first one is of a practical nature, that intales my work production - not only, physical, visual and touchable work but also audible work that demands a theoretical counterpart. Unfolding into references, thematic motives, it drives me to write about the language and its framework, and above it all, the way that language, like a game, can be played, through a set of rules. The later imposition, deserves vital importance, for it’s typical of human behaviour,that so much evolution and expression underwent, throughout the history of, culture and civilization, and focusing on the way it can take artistic shape and its usage under a given creator’s hands. This analysis features the rule, it’s transgressions, the freedom, and its role-paly through art, as a construction and an escape. On a last instance I recall, the littleness that goes with board games, without foregoing its ever present power to depict our world, another place, and even ourselves

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We investigated the longitudinal relationship between physical fitness (flexibility, functional strength, and running speed-agility components) and subsequent change in academic achievement across one school year. We also examined whether this longitudinal relationship differed as a function of pupils’ age, controlling for sex, body mass index, and socioeconomic status. Academic achievement in terms of marks in Portuguese and mathematics was recorded from 142 pupils (M = 14.59 years; SD = 1.99, range 11–18), between autumn 2017 and summer 2018. The physical fitness components, including flexibility, functional strength, and running speed-agility, were assessed at the baseline (i.e., at the beginning of the school year). Latent change score modelling revealed that higher physical fitness level at baseline significantly predicted a subsequent improvement in academic achievement across the school year. This longitudinal relationship was significantly stronger in younger compared to older pupils. Physical fitness and its interaction with age predicted 45.7% of the variance in the change in academic achievement. In conclusion, a better physical fitness profile including flexibility, functional strength, and running speed-agility explains a subsequent improvement in academic achievement. This longitudinal relationship seems to be age-dependent.

Background.—Headache in ischemic stroke survivors after the acute stage is incompletely described. Objective.—We aimed to prospectively describe the characteristics of headache and the predictors of headache at the chronic stage after ischemic stroke. Methods.—We conducted a prospective observational cohort study including 102 acute ischemic stroke patients admitted to a Stroke Unit. Patients were interviewed at the acute and the chronic stage (12 months after stroke). Characteristics of those headaches were collected using a previously validated headache questionnaire enabling headache classification following the International Headache Society criteria. Pre-stroke headache history was registered using the same instrument. Results.—Forty-five patients out of 89 with completed follow-up (51%) reported headache at the chronic stage. In most of the patients, headache was sporadic, mild, pressure-like, with a duration of minutes to hours, with characteristics of tension-type headache in 51% (n = 23/45). Headache was a reactivation of pre-stroke headache in 33% (n = 15/45), different from pre-stroke headache in 44% (n = 20/45), and of new-onset in 22% (n = 10/45). Only 1 patient had a new-onset headache at the acute stage that persisted with the same characteristics at the chronic stage. Pre-stroke headache (OR = 5.3; 95% CI [2.01-13.98] P = .001) and female sex (OR = 3.5; 95% CI [1.3-9.4] P = .013) predicted headache at the chronic stage after stroke, controlling for age, severity, and location of stroke. Conclusions.—Headache in ischemic stroke survivors at the chronic stage is more frequent in women and in patients with pre-stroke headache. It is most frequently a headache with different characteristics of the pre-stroke headache and only rarely a new-onset headache starting at the acute stage and persisting at the chronic stage.

O estudo que em seguida se apresenta, propõe-se desenvolver uma reflexão sobre a importância das Ordens Monástico Militares, mais concretamente a da Ordem de Cristo, na produção de elementos de Falerística (Condecorações/Insígnias) na Joalharia Barroca Portuguesa, abordando-a no âmbito de um contexto socioeconómico e cultural. Os objetos falerísticos, são pensados a partir da sua dimensão comunicante, suportes de mensagens e inscrições sociais, que se, por um lado, os tornam comunicadores por excelência, das mensagens não verbais, por outro, conferem ao corpo como à joia um estatuto especial dentro da realidade social do homem ocidental. Essa dimensão comunicante será aprofundada, procurando explorar a temática do adorno, enquanto objeto de joalharia, no âmbito das artes decorativas, mas em particular da joia e a sua relação com o corpo, tanto numa perspetiva individual, da relação com o ser interior, como na relação com o exterior, com o outro e com o meio. A joia como objeto de uso, portadora de símbolos e de significados, objeto de desejo, de contemplação e marcador de uma identidade desde tempos ancestrais. Mas também a joia como objeto que se projeta e que se constrói, no sentido de estar associada ao estatuto social, a uma linguagem hermética e simbólica, mas também, a uma nova exploração de formas e materiais, caraterísticos de uma época.

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O comandante de um barco acaba de chegar ao Egipto, provavelmente a Elefantina, vindo de uma viagem à Núbia. A expedição não terá corrido da melhor forma, pois teme enfrentar o faraó. Para o confortar, um passageiro conta-lhe uma história fantástica, destinada a mostrar-lhe que mesmo nas piores circunstâncias é sempre possível um volte face. Numa outra viagem em que participou foi o único sobrevivente de um naufrágio provocado por uma violenta tempestade onde pereceram todos os tripulantes do seu barco. Acabou por ir parar a uma ilha maravilhosa, a ilha do Ka, onde se deparou com o seu único habitante, um deus-serpente. Recebido como algo de insignificante e desprezível, acabou por ser confidente da enorme serpente que, no fim, lhe permitiu regressar ao Egipto e alcançar a felicidade. É para este texto que apresentamos uma explicação à luz da época e da civilização em que se integra.