RCAAP Repository

Invasive alien species represent a serious threat to global biodiversity, causing considerable damage to native ecosystems. To better assess invasion risks, it is essential to better understand the biological processes that determine the success or failure of invasions. The catadromous Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis, whose native distribution is the Pacific Coast of China and Korea, has successfully invaded and established populations in North America and Europe. In Japan, where E. sinensis is also regarded as potentially invasive and multiple introduction vectors exist, the species is not yet established. These settings can be used to explore niche-based processes underlying the apparent failure of a biological invasion. We first quantified native and invasive realized niches of E. sinensis in freshwater habitats using geometrical n-dimensional hypervolumes. Based on the assumption of niche conservatism, we then projected habitat suitability of this species in Japan using species distribution models (SDMs) calibrated with distinct sets of distribution data: native occurrences, invasive occurrences, and both. Results showed that E. sinensis has undergone either niche shifts or niche contractions during invasions in different areas of the world. Projections from SDMs indicate that although part of Japan is suitable for E. sinensis, this does not include the freshwater habitats around the Ariake Sea, which is considered to be a suitable marine environment for E. sinensis larvae. The mismatch between suitable freshwater and marine environments provides a possible explanation for the failure of establishment of E. sinensis in Japan to date. Our findings have useful general implications for the interpretation of biological invasions.

The research on deductive reasoning in mathematics education has been predominantly associated with the study of proof; consequently, there is a lack of studies on logical reasoning per se, especially with young children. Analytical reasoning problems are adequate tasks to engage the solver in deductive reasoning, as they require rule checking and option elimination, for which chains of inferences based on premises and rules are accomplished. Focusing on the solutions of children aged 10–12 to an analytical reasoning problem proposed in two separate settings—a web-based problem-solving competition and mathematics classes—this study aims to find out what forms of deductive reasoning they undertake and how they express that reasoning. This was done through a qualitative content analysis encompassing 384 solutions by children participating in a beyond-school competition and 102 solutions given by students in their mathematics classes. The results showed that four different types of deductive reasoning models were produced in the two venues. Moreover, several representational resources were found in the children’s solutions. Overall, it may be concluded that moderately complex analytical reasoning tasks can be taken into regular mathematics classes to support and nurture young children’s diverse deductive reasoning models.

The aims of this thesis were to better characterize HIV-1 diversity in Portugal, Angola, Mozambique and Cape Verde and to investigate the origin and epidemiological history of HIV-1 in these countries. The impact of these issues in diagnosis, disease progression and susceptibility to ARV therapy was also investigated. Finally, the nature, dynamics and prevalence of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) was determined in untreated HIV-1 infected patients. In Angola, practically all HIV-1 genetic forms were found, including almost all subtypes, untypable (U) strains, CRFs and URFs. Recombinants (first and second generation) were present in 47.1% of the patients. HIV/AIDS epidemic in Angola probably started in 1961, the major cause being the independence war, subsequently spreading to Portugal. In Maputo, 81% of the patients were infected with subtype C viruses. Subtype G, U and recombinants such as CRF37_cpx, were also present. The results suggest that HIV-1 epidemic in Mozambique is evolving rapidly in genetic complexity. In Cape Verde, where HIV-1 and HIV-2 co-circulate, subtype G is the prevailed subtype. Subtypes B, C, F1, U, CRF02_AG and other recombinant strains were also found. HIV-2 isolates belonged to group A, some being closely related to the original ROD isolate. In all three countries numerous new polymorphisms were identified in the RT and PR of HIV-1 viruses. Mutations conferring resistance to the NRTIs or NNRTIs were found in isolates from 2 (2%) patients from Angola, 4 (6%) from Mozambique and 3 (12%) from Cape Verde. None of the isolates containing TDR mutations would be fully sensitive to the standard first-line therapeutic regimens used in these countries. Close surveillance in treated and untreated populations will be crucial to prevent further transmission of drug resistant strains and maximize the efficacy of ARV therapy. In Portugal, investigation of a seronegative case infection with rapid progression to AIDS and death revealed that the patient was infected with a CRF14_BG-like R5-tropic strain selectively transmitted by his seropositive sexual partner. The results suggest a massive infection with a highly aggressive CRF14_BG like strain and/or the presence of an unidentified immunological problem that prevented the formation of HIV-1-specific antibodies. Near full-length genomic sequences obtained from three unrelated patients enabled the first molecular and phylogenomic characterization of CRF14_BG from Portugal; all sequences were strongly related with CRF14_BG Spanish isolates. The mean date of origin of CRF14_BG was estimated to be 1992. We propose that CRF14_BG emerged in Portugal in the early 1990s, spread to Spain in late 1990s as a consequence of IDUs migration and then to the rest of Europe. Most CRF14_BG strains were predicted to use CXCR4 and were associated with rapid CD4 depletion and disease progression. Finally, we provide evidence suggesting that the X4 tropism of CRF14_BG may have resulted from convergent evolution of the V3 loop possibly driven by an effective escape from neutralizing antibody response.

The applicability of optical satellite data to quantify coastal erosion across the Arctic is limited due to frequent cloud cover. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) may provide an alternative. The interpretation of SAR data for coastal erosion monitoring in Arctic regions is, however, challenging due to issues of viewing geometry, ambiguities in scattering behavior and inconsistencies in acquisition strategies. In order to assess SAR applicability, we have investigated data acquired at three different wavelengths (X-, C-, L-band; TerraSAR-X, Sentinel-1, ALOS PALSAR 1/2). In a first step we developed a pre-processing workflow which considers viewing geometry issues (shoreline orientation, incidence angle relationships with respect to different landcover types). We distinguish between areas with foreshortening along cliffs facing the sensor, radar shadow along cliffs facing away and traditional land-water boundary discrimination. Results are compared to retrievals from Landsat trends. Four regions which feature high erosion rates have been selected. All three wavelengths have been investigated for Kay Point (Canadian Beaufort Sea Coast). C- and L-band have been studied at all sites, including also Herschel Island (Canadian Beaufort Sea Coast), Varandai (Barents Sea Coast, Russia), and Bykovsky Peninsula (Laptev Sea coast, Russia). Erosion rates have been derived for a 1-year period (2017–2018) and in case of L-band also over 11 years (2007–2018). Results indicate applicability of all wavelengths, but acquisitions need to be selected with care to deal with potential ambiguities in scattering behavior. Furthermore, incidence angle dependencies need to be considered for discrimination of the land-water boundary in case of L- and C-band. However, L-band has the lowest sensitivity to wave action and relevant future missions are expected to be of value for coastal erosion monitoring. The utilization of trends derived from Landsat is also promising for efficient long-term trend retrieval. The high spatial resolution of TerraSAR-X staring spot light mode (<1 m) also allows the use of radar shadow for cliff-top monitoring in all seasons. Derived retreat rates agree with rates available from other data sources, but the applicability for automatic retrieval is partially limited. The derived rates suggest an increase of erosion at all four sites in recent years, but uncertainties are also high.

Expansion of Antarctic vegetation in ice-free areas underlines the need for effective remote sensing techniques to properly monitor the changes. Detection and mapping of vegetation remains limited in the Antarctic environment given the complexity of its surface coverage. Some cryptogamic species exhibit low reflectance in the nearinfrared region and are not easily detected by vegetation indices, such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). In addition, spectral reflectance of Antarctic vegetation is highly variable according to seasonal conditions, which may influence NDVI results. As ultra-high resolution aerial imagery allows for a detailed analysis of vegetation and enables the validation of satellite imagery, in this study we assess the ability of the NDVI from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Sentinel-2, and Landsat 8 to identify vegetated areas in the ice-free environment of Hope Bay, Antarctic Peninsula. NDVI classification with class ranges set by statistical parameters (i.e., mean and standard deviation) is performed. The results show that different sensors provide different NDVI values for the same vegetation class. NDVI classification enabled the identification of areas showing vegetation cover, which are in accordance with the manually mapped areas in the UAV image. Correspondence in vegetation distribution and classes can be observed across all classifications, demonstrating that aerial and satellite imagery may be used for Antarctic vegetation monitoring. A close association between NDVI classes and Antarctic vegetation type is identified, where lichens are generally classified in lower probability classes, and algae and moss in higher probability classes. This article shows the potential of NDVI applied to Antarctic vegetation and the significance of data statistical parameters in the selection of thresholds, reducing the need for groundtruth information in remote areas.

Tourism is recognized for its positive effects on the economy (Balaguer & Cantavella-Jord´a, 2002; Min, Roh, & Bak, 2016). It contributes to the trade balance and tax revenues, drives employment and boosts entrepreneurship (Williams & Lew, 2015). Notwithstanding, the continued acceleration of tourism in recent years led more scholars to underline the drawbacks of tourism growth (Gibson, 2019; G¨ossling, 2002; G¨ossling & Scott, 2018; Saarinen, 2018; Satta, Spinelli, & Parola, 2019). The current debate about tourism is raising new questions on the sustainability of tourism and the limits to its growth, stressing the compelling need to balance its economic, social and environmental impacts (Blazquez-Salom, Blanco-Romero, Vera-Rebollo, & Ivars-Baidal, 2019; Capocchi, Vallone, Amaduzzi & Pierotti, 2019; Panzer-Krause, 2019). A clearer perception of the need to move away from “growth fetishism” and to evolve into a ‘strong’ sustainability paradigm in tourism is emerging (Higgins-Desbiolles, 2018; Higgins-Desbiolles, Carnicelli, Krolikowski, Wijesinghe, & Boluk, 2019). Education for sustainability is considered critical in this change (Boyle, Wilson, & Dimmock, 2015; G¨ossling & Scott, 2018). As students will become leaders and decision makers in the future, they need to acquire specific skills and competences. Therefore, callings for the creation of tailored training programmes are being geared towards this goal. However, despite sustainability having been deemed a critical topic in tourism studies for decades (Butler, 1999; Hardy, Beeton, & Pearson, 2002), there are still inconsistent views on sustainable tourism which are reflected across the education system and in curricula (Bramwell, Higham, Lane, & Miller, 2017; Thomas, 2009; Wang, Huyton, Gao, & Ayres, 2010). Several recent studies have sought to explore these issues by investigating the extent to which sustainability is embedded in tourism higher education (Wilson & von der Heidt, 2013; Boyle et al., 2015; Cotterell, Hales, Arcodia, & Ferreira, 2019). These studies focused primarily on education, examining tourism curricula and the views of teaching staff. In this paper, the other side of the teaching-learning binomial is explored, based on students’ views on sustainability. The purpose is to ascertain whether different attitudes towards sustainability are found among tourism and environmental sciences students. Academic environmental sciences programmes are keen to develop awareness of sustainable development (Silverman & Silverman, 2003). Hence, environmental sciences students serve as appropriate comparison groups as further explained in section 3. Our intention is to unveil whether both groups of students share the same paradigm of sustainability or, on the contrary, due to their specific training, tourism students are more driven towards tourism economic benefits and environmental sciences students more concerned with environmental issues. To this end, a sustainable attitude questionnaire was applied to students from both courses in the Minho region, Portugal. Based on the results obtained, strategic decisions can be made, precisely on what specific topics should be further addressed during their academic programmes. The methodology advanced in this paper may be replicated at a later stage for different regions.

A Polónia e Portugal, apesar de estarem separados por uma distância geográfica de 2700 quilómetros aproximadamente, têm muito que ver um com o outro em vários campos. Com certeza, não se trata apenas das relações comerciais, o que faz referência à presença da cadeia de lojas Biedronka (em português «joaninha») no mercado polaco e que pertencem ao Grupo Jerónimo Martins. É também algo mais do que só os produtos alimentares, serviços turísticos ou valores do meio-ambiente em Portugal continental e nas ilhas dos Açores e da Madeira, que atraíram muitos cidadãos polacos para visitarem Portugal. Nas últimas décadas publicaram-se diversas obras ligadas, mais ou menos, às realidades de ambos os países. Tais publicações referem-se a diversos tipos da literatura: diários, guias, agendas culturais e, também, traduções de obras literárias ou mesmo manuais de polaco e português, que ajudam perceber a realidade de um país através da sua língua de origem. Enfim, a presente dissertação é baseada numa análise de quatro obras-chave, com objectivo de examinar a imagem de Portugal por viajantes polacos desde os últimos anos da época salazarista até aos nossos dias.

Este relatório baseia-se no estágio curricular de 120 horas, realizado na empresa Sintagma – Traduções Unipessoal, Lda, nos semestres 1 e 2 de 2017/2018, na área da tradução audiovisual e, mais especificamente, da tradução para legendagem. Ao longo do estágio, tive a oportunidade de traduzir e legendar programas e séries de natureza diversa, desde animação a culinária. A prática de tradução audiovisual desta diversidade de programas permitiu-me aplicar conhecimentos teóricos e práticos adquiridos nos seminários do Mestrado em Tradução, entre os quais se destacaram os conceitos de estratégias e problemas de tradução e a sua aplicação em soluções de tradução. A reflexão resultante da aplicação prática desses dois conceitos à tradução para legendagem deu origem a este relatório. Nele se apresenta, em primeiro lugar, uma breve descrição do estágio. Segue-se a apresentação e definição dos conceitos de estratégias e problemas de tradução. É neste enquadramento que se abordam algumas propostas de estratégias de tradução, nomeadamente as feitas ao longo do tempo por Vinay e Darbelnet (1958), Chesterman (1997/2016), Molina e Hurtado Albir (2002) e ainda as propostas por Díaz-Cintas (2003) para a tradução para legendagem. Para organizar estas propostas, elas são sistematizadas numa tabela comparativa. Em terceiro lugar, apresentam-se algumas das particularidades da tradução para legendagem e o relatório passa a identificar e analisar exemplos concretos de problemas de tradução suscitados pelo trabalho realizado durante o estágio. O propósito deste relatório consiste em demonstrar o modo como as estratégias de tradução apresentadas para várias tipologias textuais podem ser utilizadas em tradução para legendagem. No entanto, a tradução audiovisual e a tradução para legendagem revelam também especificidades que devem ser referidas e que têm de ser consideradas tanto pelo tradutor como pelo investigador em tradução audiovisual.

Although much has been written about the challenges of big data, there has been little reflection on the historicity of such debates and what we can learn from it. With this in mind, the aim of this article is to situate the epistemological debates over big data in geography historically. We focus on the three most relevant topics in current discussions around big data that have significant historical resonance, namely its methodological challenges, its scientific value, and its positionality. We conclude by arguing that understanding the historical resonance of current big data debates is helpful to find new ways to question its epistemological consequences.

O objectivo da Newsletter do Instituto de Saúde Baseado na Evidência (ISBE) é a disponibilização de informação sobre áreas relevantes para a prática clínica, baseada na melhor evidência científica. São localizados estudos relevantes e de alta qualidade, criticamente avaliados pela sua validade, importância dos resultados e aplicabilidade prática e resumidos numa óptica de suporte à decisão clínica. É dada prioridade aos estudos de causalidade – revisões sistemáticas, ensaios clínicos, estudos de coorte prospectivos/retrospectivos, estudos seccionais cruzados e caso‐controlo – incluindo‐se ainda, quando justificado, estudos qualitativos considerados de elevada qualidade metodológica e importância clínica.

O objectivo da Newsletter do Instituto de Saúde Baseado na Evidência (ISBE) é a disponibilização de informação sobre áreas relevantes para a prática clínica, baseada na melhor evidência científica. São localizados estudos relevantes e de alta qualidade, criticamente avaliados pela sua validade, importância dos resultados e aplicabilidade prática e resumidos numa óptica de suporte à decisão clínica. É dada prioridade aos estudos de causalidade – revisões sistemáticas, ensaios clínicos, estudos de coorte prospectivos/retrospectivos, estudos seccionais cruzados e caso‐controlo – incluindo‐se ainda, quando justificado, estudos qualitativos considerados de elevada qualidade metodológica e importância clínica.

Objective: (1) To give adolescents and youth a voice and listen to the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) in their lives; (2) to identify their coping strategies; (3) present lessons learned to be better prepared for future pandemics. Methods: Six hundred and seventeen participants from 16 to 24 years old (M = 19.2 years; F = 19.1 years) answered the online questionnaire during the pandemic lockdown. Sociodemographic data were analyzed with SPSS version 26 and qualitative data with MAXQDA 2020. Engel's Biopsychosocial model supported the analysis and data presentation. Results: in terms of impacts, stands out: biological—headaches and muscle pain; psychological—more time to perform pleasant and personal development activities, but more symptoms of depression, anxiety, and loneliness, longer screen time, and more substance use; social—increase of family conflicts and disagreements, loss of important life moments, contacts, and social skills, but it allows a greater selection of friendships. Regarding coping strategies, the importance of facing these times with a positive perspective, carrying out pleasurable activities, keeping in touch with family and friends, and establishing routines are emphasized. As lessons for future pandemics, the importance of respecting the norms of the Directorate‐General for Health, the need for the National Health System to be prepared, as well as teachers and students for online learning, and studying the possibility of establishing routines with the support of television. Conclusions: This study illustrates adolescents and young people's perception of the impacts of the pandemic upon them, as well as their competence to participate in the issues that directly affect them. Priorities to mitigate the impact of future pandemics are presented.

The CE 1755 Lisbon tsunami was the largest historical tsunami to affect the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North Africa. This study presents the results obtained from the application of different sedimentological techniques (e.g., grain size, morphoscopy, microtextural analysis, geochemistry, radiocarbon dating) on sediments retrieved from the Alcabrichel River alluvial plain (of about 500 m far away from its mouth and approximatively 50 km northwest of Lisbon, Portugal). The results allowed the identification of a sandy layer that was associated with the CE 1755 tsunami. Furthermore, a new microtextural semi-quantitative classification was applied to enhance the identification of extreme marine inundation deposits. Based on sedimentological data, three different tsunami inundation phases were identified, including two inundations and a likely backwash. This innovative work offers physical evidence of the spatial presence of the CE 1755 tsunami event on the western coast of Europe. It also enables a reconstruction of tsunami inundation dynamics, with two flooding waves and an interspersed backwash.

Research has long been using analytical tools to describe the processes students engage in when solving non-routine mathematical problems. In this chapter we describe and discuss our progress on devising and implementing an analytical tool that aims to account for the use of technological tools by combining a mathematical problem solving model with a digital problem solving framework. By means of the Mathematical Problem Solving with Technology model (MPST) we report the case of Marco using technologies for solving two problems from a beyond school competition. Results show that Marco’s choice of the tools is grounded on an explicit knowledge of their affordances and how they enhance his mathematical thinking, mainly by triggering visual approaches that support the development of conceptual models for solving-and-expressing the solutions to the problems.

Background: Characteristics of the neighborhood built environment are associated with physical activity (PA). However, few studies with representative samples have examined environmental correlates of domain-specific PA in Latin America. We examined the associations of the perceived neighborhood built environment with domain-specific PA in a large sample of adults from eight Latin American countries. Methods: This study examined data from 8185 adults (aged 18–65 years) from eight Latin American countries. The Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Survey - Abbreviated (NEWS-A) scale was used to assess perceptions of land use mix–diversity, land use mix-access, street connectivity, walking/cycling facilities, aesthetics, safety from traffic, and safety from crime. Perceived proximity from home to public open spaces (metropolitan parks, playgrounds, public squares) and to shopping centers was also measured. Transport-related and leisure-time PA were assessed using the long form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Both logistic and linear regression models were estimated on pooled data. Results: Perceptions of higher land use mix-access (OR: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.22,1.61), the existence of many alternative routes in the neighbourhood (1.12; 1.04,1.20), slow speed of traffic (1.19; 1.03,1.35) and few drivers exceeding the speed limits (1.09; 1.03,1.15) were associated with greater odds of reporting at least 10 min/week of transport-related PA. Perceptions of higher levels of land use mix-diversity, better aesthetics and greater safety from crime, the presence of crosswalks and pedestrian signals, and greater proximity of shopping centers were associated with more min/week of transport-related PA. Perceptions of higher land use mix-diversity (1.12; 1.05,1.20), higher land use mix-access (1.27; 1.13,1.43), more walking/cycling facilities (1.18; 1.09,1.28), and better aesthetics (1.10; 1.02,1.18) were associated with greater odds of engaging in at least 10 min/week of leisure-time PA versus none. Perceptions of higher land use mix-diversity were associated with more min/week of leisure PA. Conclusions: Different perceived neighborhood built environment characteristics were associated with domain-specific PA among adults from Latin America countries. Interventions designed to modify perceptions of the neighbourhood built environment might influence initiation or maintenance of domain-specific PA.

Background: Exercise is a well-accepted strategy to improve lipid and infammatory profle in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). However, the exercise intensity having the most benefts on lipids and infammatory markers in patients with T2DM remains unclear. We aimed to analyse the impact of a 1-year combined high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with resistance training (RT), and a moderate continuous training (MCT) with RT on infammatory and lipid profle in individuals with T2DM. Methods: Individuals with T2DM (n=80, aged 59 years) performed a 1-year randomized controlled trial and were randomized into three groups (control, n=27; HIIT with RT, n=25; MCT with RT, n=28). Exercise sessions were super‑ vised with a frequency of 3 days per week. Infammatory and lipid profles were measured at baseline and at 1-year follow-up. Changes in infammatory and lipid markers were assessed using generalized estimating equations. Results: After adjusting for sex, age and baseline moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), we observed a time-by-group interaction for Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in both the MCT with RT (β=−0.70, p=0.034) and HIIT with RT (β=−0.62, p=0.049) groups, whereas, only the HIIT with RT group improved total cholesterol (β=−0.03, p=0.045) and LDL-C (β=−0.03, p=0.034), when compared to control. No efect was observed for C-reactive protein (CRP), cortisol, tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), soluble form of the haptoglobin-hemoglobin receptor CD163 (sCD163), triglycerides and HDL-C in both groups (p>0.05). Conclusions: Favorable adaptations on IL-6 were observed in both the HIIT and MCT combined with RT groups fol‑ lowing a long-term 1-year exercise intervention in individuals with T2DM. However, only the HIIT with RT prevented further derangement of total cholesterol and LDL-C, when compared to the control group. Therefore, in order to encourage exercise participation and improve infammatory profle, either exercise protocols may be prescribed, however, HIIT with RT may have further benefts on the lipid profle.

All over the world, several organizations have nurtured the development of students’ problem-solving abilities by organizing competitions and tournaments of different kinds. This is the case of the Mathematical Competitions SUB12 and SUB14, promoted by the University of Algarve, addressing students from grades 5 to 8 (10–14 year olds) in the south of Portugal. To each proposed problem, participants are required to explain their problem-solving process and find ways to express their thinking. They may use any of the digital tools they have available and they find useful for solving a given problem. Our research has uncovered the aptitudes of young competitors in taking advantage of everyday digital tools and its representational expressiveness to give form and substance to their reasoning and strategies. Another emerging aspect is the apparent existence of different degrees of robustness of the solutions submitted, mainly in terms of the strategies that competitors develop, with a particular technological tool, to solve the problems. In this chapter, we are taking a selection of solutions submitted to two problems, in which competitors resort to GeoGebra, in one case, and to Excel, in the other. We offer a proposal for identifying levels of sophistication and robustness of technology-based solutions to the problems, according to the characteristics of the tool use and its connection to the conceptual models underlying students’ thinking on the problems.

Objective: To analyze the relationship between grip strength and symptoms of depression, considering sex and age, in adults from 18 countries. Methods: Cross-sectional data for adults 50 years and older from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe wave 6 (collected in 2015) were analyzed. Grip strength was measured twice on each hand using a handgrip dynamometer. The EURO-D 12-item scale was used to measure depression symptoms. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted. Data analyses were conducted between November 5, 2019, and February 7, 2020. Results: Men and women who were in quartiles 2, 3, and 4 of grip strength were less likely to have depression symptoms than those in the first quartile of grip strength. Having more grip strength decreased the odds of depression symptoms by 30% (odds ratio 0.70; 95% CI, 0.65 to 0.77) and 47% (odds ratio, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.49 to 0.57) for adults aged 50 to 64 years and 65 years and older, respectively, when compared with those with the lowest grip strength. The negative relationship between strong grip strength and depression symptoms was observed among men and women younger and older than 65 years. Conclusion: There was an association between grip strength and depression symptoms. For clinical practice and geriatric health professionals, assessing adults' grip strength can be used as a signal to screen for physical and mental health.

The goal of this dissertation is to develop a general theory of grammaticalization within the framework of Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG, Hengeveld and Mackenzie 2008). As a structural-functional model of language, FDG recognizes the cognitive reality of grammar as a structured set of rules and constraints, but rejects the idea of a largely autonomous syntax and aims at explaining the morphosyntactic organization of natural languages with reference to pragmatic and semantic factors. From this perspective, the general stucture of the grammar must be plausible from a psychological viewpoint and is understood as being shaped by the communicative necessities that human languages, as inherently social tools, are meant to satisfy. A third major concern of structural-functional linguistics, and especially of FDG, is its commitment to typological adequacy, again on the assumption that the cross-linguistic variation of natural languages is limited by the common interactional needs of human communities. These three fundamental tenets of structural-functional linguistics (cognitive/psychological, pragmatic and typological adequacy) constitute the driving principles behind the theory of grammaticalization developed in this dissertation. First, by explicitly linking the development of grammaticalizing constructions to the general structure of the grammar, the proposed model gains a decisive advantage over other functionally oriented accounts of grammaticalization, as it refrains from invoking abstract notions such as semantic ‘bleaching’ or increasing abstraction and generality of meaning but singles out a precise set of empirically testable, grammar-internal constraints on possible and impossible patterns of grammaticalization. At the same time, as a structural-functional approach, it recognizes the usage-based nature of grammaticalization and thus constantly seeks to identify semantically and pragmatically plausible contexts of change. Finally, in the light of the extreme typological diversity of natural languages, morphosyntactic and phonological changes are denied the status of definitional features of grammaticalization and grammaticalization is defined as an essentially functional phenomenon.

O objectivo da Newsletter do Instituto de Saúde Baseado na Evidência (ISBE) é a disponibilização de informação sobre áreas relevantes para a prática clínica, baseada na melhor evidência científica. São localizados estudos relevantes e de alta qualidade, criticamente avaliados pela sua validade, importância dos resultados e aplicabilidade prática e resumidos numa óptica de suporte à decisão clínica. É dada prioridade aos estudos de causalidade – revisões sistemáticas, ensaios clínicos, estudos de coorte prospectivos/retrospectivos, estudos seccionais cruzados e caso‐controlo – incluindo‐se ainda, quando justificado, estudos qualitativos considerados de elevada qualidade metodológica e importância clínica.