The aim of this paper is to propose a general approach to the concept of decivilizati-on. This analysis is carried out in the framework of civilization process theory defined by Norbert Elias. According to the author, processes of civilization develop within a tension balance of centripetal-centrifugal forces that drive to major or minor levels of social integration. However, some doubts about an appropriate interpretation of the concept have been raised and in this way, it has been interpreted as retrogression, regression or reverse of the civilization process. Nevertheless, certain difficulties still persist within the theoretical frame of this discussion: the temporary consideration of decivilization; the possibility of decivilising processes in the long term and the comprehension of the decivilization connected to the concept of social change handled by Norbert Elias and based on the logic of unintended consequences of the intentional action.

This thesis addresses two closely related problems. The first, translation alignment, consists of identifying bilingual document pairs that are translations of each other within multilingual document collections (document alignment); identifying sentences, titles, etc, that are translations of each other within bilingual document pairs (sentence alignment); and identifying corresponding word and phrase translations within bilingual sentence pairs (phrase alignment). The second is extraction of bilingual pairs of equivalent word and multi-word expressions, which we call translation equivalents (TEs), from sentence- and phrase-aligned parallel corpora. While these same problems have been investigated by other authors, their focus has been on fully unsupervised methods based mostly or exclusively on parallel corpora. Bilingual lexica, which are basically lists of TEs, have not been considered or given enough importance as resources in the treatment of these problems. Human validation of TEs, which consists of manually classifying TEs as correct or incorrect translations, has also not been considered in the context of alignment and extraction. Validation strengthens the importance of infrequent TEs (most of the entries of a validated lexicon) that otherwise would be statistically unimportant. The main goal of this thesis is to revisit the alignment and extraction problems in the context of a lexica-centered iterative workflow that includes human validation. Therefore, the methods proposed in this thesis were designed to take advantage of knowledge accumulated in human-validated bilingual lexica and translation tables obtained by unsupervised methods. Phrase-level alignment is a stepping stone for several applications, including the extraction of new TEs, the creation of statistical machine translation systems, and the creation of bilingual concordances. Therefore, for phrase-level alignment, the higher accuracy of human-validated bilingual lexica is crucial for achieving higher quality results in these downstream applications. There are two main conceptual contributions. The first is the coverage maximization approach to alignment, which makes direct use of the information contained in a lexicon, or in translation tables when this is small or does not exist. The second is the introduction of translation patterns which combine novel and old ideas and enables precise and productive extraction of TEs. As material contributions, the alignment and extraction methods proposed in this thesis have produced source materials for three lines of research, in the context of three PhD theses (two of them already defended), all sharing with me the supervision of my advisor. The topics of these lines of research are statistical machine translation, algorithms and data structures for indexing and querying phrase-aligned parallel corpora, and bilingual lexica classification and generation. Four publications have resulted directly from the work presented in this thesis and twelve from the collaborative lines of research.

We describe the use of ATP caged with [7-(diethylamino)coumarin-4-yl]methyl (DEACM) for light-controlled in vitro transcription reactions. Polymerization is blocked when DEACM is bonded to the gamma phosphate group of the ATP molecule. Controlled light irradiation releases ATP and transcription is initiated. In order to provide full control over the process, conditions involved in substrate release, nucleotide availability after release and the effect of the released coumarin in RNA polymerization were assessed in further detail. Together, our data provide the first direct evidence of control over enzymatic polymerization of nucleic acids through light. This approach may provide researchers with a unique tool for the study of biological processes at a molecular level.

Os séculos XX e XXI corresponderam ao agudizar de processos globalizantes potenciados pelas novas tecnologias, quer no âmbito comunicacional, quer industrial, sublinhando dinâmicas de desruralização e de construção de tecidos urbanos densos onde o anonimato se tornou possível na vivência de experiências, outrora reconduzidas ao silêncio do sujeito socialmente isolado. A diferença, enquanto experiência vivida, tornou-se comunitariamente possível, surgindo grupos que delimitam geograficamente determinadas áreas urbanas a que correspondem afinidades eróticas ou de práticas sexuais, inicialmente de gays e lésbicas. Quebra-se na prática a uni-direccionalidade entre sexo e género, entre sexo e sexualidade, questionando-se esquemas de relações assimétricas e modelos de pensamento enraizados (heterossexualidade, patriarcado, machismo, etc.). Rubin (1975 in Lewin 2006, in Vance, 1984) propõe a existência de dois sistemas diferenciados de sexo e género que tornam plausível, sob o ponto de vista analítico, a não correspondência entre sexo, género e sexualidade. O paradigma máximo desta autonomia sistémica alcança-se na construção de uma identidade travesti. Esta identidade mutante, mutável e instável parece acompanhar um mundo de fluxos intensos e interdependências múltiplas. É na sociedade global que as travestis encontram espaço para a vivência comunitária da sua experiência, constituindo-se como um grupo com práticas transnacionais, marcado pela mobilidade de género e geográfica, primeiramente dentro das fronteiras brasileiras e depois para a Europa. Cidade, prostituição e migração surgem como factores chave da disseminação geográfica e identitária desta comunidade. Este projecto tomado sob uma perspectiva global mantêm ou reinventa relações com a estrutura, que aparentemente as apaga enquanto actores sociais e da qual, aparentemente, se auto-excluem.

A Primeira Exposição-Diálogo sobre Arte Contemporânea na Europa realizou-se em Lisboa, no complexo da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, entre 28 de Março e 16 de Junho de 1985. Juntando na sua organização o Conselho da Europa e oito museus sedeados em Estados-membros daquele organismo, esta exposição visava o cumprimento de três objectivos: constituir uma imagem da arte contemporânea na Europa; investigar uma eventual identidade cultural europeia; e perceber o papel dos museus de arte moderna e contemporânea na sedimentação de uma herança cultural europeia comum. O modelo expositivo da Exposição-Diálogo, proposto por René Berger, procurava cumprir estes propósitos através do confronto entre as representações dos museus. Confronto alicerçado na definição de um sistema da arte moderna envolvendo agentes específicos como, entre outros, os artistas, as galerias, as feiras de arte, as bienais ou os museus. Neste sistema caberia ao museu estabelecer um discurso de continuidade entre a arte contemporânea e toda a história da arte, ao mesmo tempo que deveria adquirir e exibir obras já sujeitas ao circuito institucional. O modelo expositivo dependia, por isso, da mediação efectuada pelos vários agentes do campo da arte. A selecção final de obras expostas, bem com as ligações entre estas e os museus resultaria das escolhas já efectuadas ao longo do circuito percorrido pelas peças naquela estrutura. A materialização de um tal modelo no espaço expositivo corresponderia a uma apresentação justaposta da representação de cada museu, tornando visíveis as diversas especificidades locais e o que revelariam de comum. É este modelo que vem a ser alterado para uma exibição aglutinada já durante a organização da Exposição-Diálogo, modificando ainda a ponderação do número de obras por museu. Estas alterações vão dificultar a apreensão dos pressupostos sobre os quais assentara a proposta de René Berger e, segundo o próprio, darão lugar a um projecto totalmente novo. Assim se justifica que parte da recepção internacional desta exposição a tenha classificado como apenas mais uma grande exposição de arte, incapaz além disso de construir uma imagem abrangente da arte contemporânea na Europa, dada a ausência de alguns dos museus europeus mais reconhecidos – crítica que não encontrou exactamente o mesmo eco em Portugal. Incapacidade expositiva que justificaria parte do seu insucesso. Mas também a proposta teórica de R. Berger, nomeadamente a tese acerca de um museu liberto de interferências políticas ou do mercado da arte, motivaria uma crítica feroz à Exposição-Diálogo. Era nessa proposta, no entanto, que residia a legitimação da Exposição-Diálogo do ponto de vista dos organizadores. O questionamento desta legitimação leva a que, nesta tese, se enquadre a exposição no conjunto das políticas culturais do Conselho da Europa e, mais especificamente, no seu programa de Exposições de Arte. Programa do qual a exposição de Lisboa será retirada ainda durante a sua organização, anunciando de certo modo que a Primeira Exposição-Diálogo seria também a última.

Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, as near-fresh foods, are a quick and easy solution to a healthy and balanced diet. The rapid degradation of nutritional and sensory quality during the processing and storage of a product is critical and plant-type-dependent. The introduction of disruptive technological solutions in fresh-cut processing, which could maintain fresh-like quality with less environmental impact, is an emerging research concept. The application of abiotic stress treatments (heat shock and UV-C) induces metabolic responses and microbial effects in plant tissues, potentially slowing down several quality senescence pathways. The previously selected combined and single effects of heat shock (100 °C/45 s; in the whole root) and UV-C (2.5 kJ/m2) treatments and two packaging conditions (oriented polypropylene (OPP) vs. micro-perforated OPP films) on controlling critical degradation pathways of fresh-cut carrots and on promoting bioactive and sensory quality during storage (5 °C, 14 days) were studied. Among the tested combinations, synergistic effects on the quality retention of fresh-cut carrots were only attained for applying heat shock associated with micro-perforated OPP film packaging. Its effects on reducing (3.3 Log10 CFU/g) the initial contamination and controlling microbiological spoilage (counts below the threshold limit of 7.5 Log10 CFU/g), increasing the bioactive content (38% and 72% in total phenolic content and chlorogenic acid, respectively), and preserving fresh quality attributes prove to be a viable alternative technology for shredded carrot processing.

The impact of microbial activity on the deterioration of cultural heritage is a well-recognized global problem. Glazed wall tiles constitute an important part of the worldwide cultural heritage. When exposed outdoors, biological colonization and consequently biodeterioration may occur. Few studies have dealt with this issue, as shown in the literature review on biodiversity, biodeterioration and bioreceptivity of architectural ceramic materials. Due to the lack of knowledge on the biodeteriogens affecting these assets, the characterization of microbial communities growing on Portuguese majolica glazed tiles, from Pena National Palace (Sintra, Portugal) and another from Casa da Pesca (Oeiras, Portugal) was carried out by culture and molecular biology techniques. Microbial communities were composed of microalgae, cyanobacteria, bacteria and fungi, including a new fungal species (Devriesia imbrexigena) described for the first time. Laboratory-based colonization experiments were performed to assess the biodeterioration patterns and bioreceptivity of glazed wall tiles produced in laboratory. Microorganisms previously identified on glazed tiles were inoculated on pristine and artificially aged tile models and incubated under laboratory conditions for 12 months. Phototrophic microorganisms were able to grow into glaze fissures and the tested fungus was able to form oxalates over the glaze. The bioreceptivity of artificially aged tiles was higher for phototrophic microorganisms than pristine tile models. A preliminary approach on mitigation strategies based on in situ application of commercial biocides and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles on glazed tiles demonstrated that commercial biocides did not provide long term protection. In contrast, TiO2 treatment caused biofilm detachment. In addition, the use of TiO2 thin films on glazed wall tiles as a protective coating to prevent biological colonization was analysed under laboratorial conditions. Finally, conservation notes on tiles exposed to biological colonization were presented.

This work is devoted to the broadband wireless transmission techniques, which are serious candidates to be implemented in future broadband wireless and cellular systems, aiming at providing high and reliable data transmission and concomitantly high mobility. In order to cope with doubly-selective channels, receiver structures based on OFDM and SC-FDE block transmission techniques, are proposed, which allow cost-effective implementations, using FFT-based signal processing. The first subject to be addressed is the impact of the number of multipath components, and the diversity order, on the asymptotic performance of OFDM and SC-FDE, in uncoded and for different channel coding schemes. The obtained results show that the number of relevant separable multipath components is a key element that influences the performance of OFDM and SC-FDE schemes. Then, the improved estimation and detection performance of OFDM-based broadcasting systems, is introduced employing SFN (Single Frequency Network) operation. An initial coarse channel is obtained with resort to low-power training sequences estimation, and an iterative receiver with joint detection and channel estimation is presented. The achieved results have shown very good performance, close to that with perfect channel estimation. The next topic is related to SFN systems, devoting special attention to time-distortion effects inherent to these networks. Typically, the SFN broadcast wireless systems employ OFDM schemes to cope with severely time-dispersive channels. However, frequency errors, due to CFO, compromises the orthogonality between subcarriers. As an alternative approach, the possibility of using SC-FDE schemes (characterized by reduced envelope fluctuations and higher robustness to carrier frequency errors) is evaluated, and a technique, employing joint CFO estimation and compensation over the severe time-distortion effects, is proposed. Finally, broadband mobile wireless systems, in which the relative motion between the transmitter and receiver induces Doppler shift which is different or each propagation path, is considered, depending on the angle of incidence of that path in relation to the direction of travel. This represents a severe impairment in wireless digital communications systems, since that multipath propagation combined with the Doppler effects, lead to drastic and unpredictable fluctuations of the envelope of the received signal, severely affecting the detection performance. The channel variations due this effect are very difficult to estimate and compensate. In this work we propose a set of SC-FDE iterative receivers implementing efficient estimation and tracking techniques. The performance results show that the proposed receivers have very good performance, even in the presence of significant Doppler spread between the different groups of multipath components.

This study focus on the probabilistic modelling of mechanical properties of prestressing strands based on data collected from tensile tests carried out in Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC), Portugal, for certification purposes, and covers a period of about 9 years of production. The strands studied were produced by six manufacturers from four countries, namely Portugal, Spain, Italy and Thailand. Variability of the most important mechanical properties is examined and the results are compared with the recommendations of the Probabilistic Model Code, as well as the Eurocodes and earlier studies. The obtained results show a very low variability which, of course, benefits structural safety. Based on those results, probabilistic models for the most important mechanical properties of prestressing strands are proposed.

SUMMARY: We present new U-Pb zircon data from the Évora Massif (SW Ossa–Morena Zone). Série Negra paragneiss of Escoural Fm. yields a maximum depositional age of ~580 Ma. Felsic orthogneiss “leptinites” included in Escoural Fm., commonly attributed to the Precambrian, yield a concordant age of 513 ± 3 Ma. Felsic volcanics interbedded in the Monfurado Fm. and the Safira Orthogneiss show very discordant zircon ages and two systematic populations at ~510 Ma and ~460 Ma. Given the stratigraphic constraint of Monfurado Fm., both magmatic rocks are considered coeval and emplaced at ~510 Ma during the main rift-related magmatism. The ~460 Ma age is not fully understood yet. Given the differences in the ages of magmatism in the Évora Massif, recently correlated with the Lower Allochthon of Galiza-Trás-os-Montes Zone, where only late rift-related magmatism is recorded, we suggest that they represent different sedimentary basins positioned in the same paleogeographic contexts.