Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Old European'

This thesis explores representations of medieval Russia in cultural and artistic works of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with an eye to the shifting perceptions of Russia’s cultural heritage demonstrated through these works. The thesis explores the history of medievalism as a field of study and interrogates the reasons that medievalism as a paradigm has not been applied to the field of Russian studies to date. The first chapter is an investigation of architectural monuments incorporating Old Russian motifs, following the trajectory of the “Russian Style” in church architecture, one of the most prominent and best-remembered forms of Russian medievalism. Chapter two explores the visual representation of medieval Russian warriors, bogatyri, in visual and plastic arts, and the ways in which this figure is involved in the national mythmaking project of the nineteenth century. The third chapter focuses on the Rimsky-Korsakov opera, The Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya, investigating the ways that different medieval and modern elements come together in this work to present an aestheticized image of medieval Russia. In this analysis of diverse and far-ranging facets of Russian medievalism in the plastic, visual, literary and performing arts, the complicated relationship between medievalism and the prevalent discourse of nationalism is investigated, opening up new opportunities for scholarly intersections with other medievalisms – in Western Europe and beyond.
Slavic Languages and Literatures

New forms of tourism are on the rise where the incentive to travel is not primarily induced by a country’s heritage, but by mediatized narratives, characters and locations starring in products such as movies, comics and literature. This so-called contents tourism is considered promising by some, but the question is: who benefits? Europe is often understood as the old continent, a place with a rich history. Modern products capitalize on this sense of oldness and tell new narratives, providing Europe with new identities. These differing identities create challenges for cities and therefore demand to be mitigated. Utilizing the Japanese concept of contents tourism, this thesis aims to shed a light on the impact of these forms of tourism on city identities. This provides a better understanding on how interests, and entwined identities, challenge one another in European cities. Three case studies are employed: Harry Potter tourism in Oxford, tourism induced by the Millennium series in Stockholm and Twilight tourism in the Italian city of Volterra. It argues that there are three ways in which a city can perceive identities brought about by contents tourism: acceptance, indifference or reluctance. Not all alternative identities are considered challenging, but contents tourism influences city identities regardless.

This work analyses fiscal sustainability and position of old and new members of EU and offers some fiscal policy implications to deal with debt reduction in the aftermath of the current fiscal crisis in the EU. Fiscal policy of Old European countries is different from fiscal policy of the new members. Due to different historical development New European members have lower debt and lower GDP per capita. Many policymakers in New Europe tried to increase GDP of their countries by generating government deficits. On the other hand Old European countries are already having large debts and current fiscal crisis is one result of this fact. The recent fiscal crisis in Europe raised the question what is sustainable fiscal policy and how to achieve it. Sustainability of the policy can be divided into three groups: short term, medium term, and long term. In short term, fiscal policy is sustainable, when government is able to issue and sell government bonds. Otherwise it defaults. In medium term, fiscal policy is sustainable when debt to GDP ratio is constant or decreasing. Situation in long term is very similar to situation in medium term. The difference is in time. Long term fiscal policy is sustainable if debt to GDP ratio converges to some finite number. All the definitions are problematic and problem arises basically from fact that variables that are part of the definitions are volatile. Fiscal policy that might seem to be sustainable in times of economic expansion may become unsustainable even in short time. Exactly this thing happened in Ireland. Ireland shows another problem of sustainability definitions. The problem is that private debt can increase public debt and even threaten its sustainability. Many countries were saving their financial sector which was very expensive and this practice is increased the debt in those countries very fast. Probably the most important indicator of fiscal sustainability is interest rate on government bonds. Reason is that price of the bonds is based on different risks that are in the assets. Countries with sustainable fiscal policy are paying lower interests than countries with unsustainable. This is reason why we tried to explain variation of interest rate on 10 years government bonds by empirical models. Two models were based on fixed effects panel data estimations and one model was based on ordinary least squares model. The panel data model showed that there was and still is huge difference between Old European and New European countries. Old Europe was viewed by markets as one segment which is relatively risk free. This lead to situation, that most important factor driving interest rates in Old Europe is the risk free rate on the German bonds. On the other hand, interest rates in New European countries are influenced by many more indicators. Most important indicator in New Europe is GDP growth and sustainability of foreign exchange reserves. Based on results of the model we came to conclusion that there is high chance that markets will start to differ among Old European countries and this could lead to increase of interest rates in some Old EU members, a conclusion which is to some degree being verified by the increased spreads between German government bonds on one hand, and Italian and Spanish bonds on the other hand in the first few weeks of August 2011. Our conclusions also suggest that the position of New Europe may stand similar in current situation. If it is true policymakers may try to adapt policy of New European countries to increase its sustainability and improve the key variables. The conclusions from this work bring several policy recommendations for improving the fiscal sustainability in Europe. First and probably the most important recommendation to fiscal policy is that policymakers should not underestimate the indicators of fiscal sustainability, which was a common practice in recent history. Countries with high GDP growth were generating large deficits and debt to GDP ratio was constant. Problem is that in recession indicators that were influencing interest rate changed and fiscal policy become unsustainable in many cases. Conclusion for fiscal policy is that policymakers should run responsible fiscal policy in good times to avoid troubles in bad times. Governments should also understand full price of deficits, because increased deficits also increase interest rate that governments have to pay on existing debt.

The European Union (EU) has fully adopted the current international trend that stresses the linkage between development, good governance and security - what is called here the 'development triangle'. Through the implementation of this holistic understanding of development, the EU has widely expanded the range of its policies in West Africa. This thesis identifies three relatively new and closely inter-related fields of European intervention and pressure for reform: security, governance and regional integration. The programmes implemented by the EU in these fields in West Africa, and studied here, all have in common that they are technical in appearance, and yet have profoundly political dimensions. The thesis outlines different reasons for this evolution of the EU's agenda in West Africa, which has failed to 'multilateralise' and 'politicise', i.e. has failed to question the traditional bilateral link between former European colonial powers and African colonies and to adopt a more political, and less technical, understanding of West African development issues. There are, first, clear institutional limits to what the EU can do in West Africa. These limits are obvious both in the field - in the European delegations' lirilited capacities and mandates -and in Brussels - in the often . unclear division of labour between Council and Commission and some member-states' continuing monopoly over relations with Africa. The thesis shows that multilateral and bilateral arrangements may co-exist for many' more decades and can even reinforce each other, so that there is little prospect for a replacement of one by the other. Africa, moreover, is still seen as a field for essentially technical and administrative interventions, not a place for politics, i.e. not a place where politics take place arid even less a place where political analysis and diplomacy are needed. The EU's agenda in West Africa is much more about adapting West African states - thus a transformational agenda - to Europe's understanding of the international order - one dominated by the Westphalian perspective -, institutional imperatives and self-promotion strategies than about adapting Europe's political strategies to West African realities and a more Weberian ideal of the state that would focus on domestic legitimacy and efficiency.

Since the European Council in Lisbon, the use of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) and OMC-type processes have become widespread across policy areas of the European Union, and also spilled over to non-governmental actors. This PhD thesis will compare and contrast two examples of OMC-like governance in the field of Education and Training which so far have been under-researched, namely the Open Method of Coordination in E&T and the Framework of Actions on the lifelong development of competencies and qualifications by the European social partners. In order to explain the creation, functioning and impact of these forms of governance, different European integration theories are tested on how they explain the results. It is expected that different theoretical approaches can explain certain aspects better than others. To fully understand all of these aspects of OMC-type governance, the combined use of rationalist and constructivist approaches is promoted. The results will show that OMC-type governance is a third way between intergovernmental and supranational policy-making and significantly contributed to the deepening of E&T policy at EU level, while at the same time guaranteeing national sovereignty, leading to a new form of integration. This thesis argues that OMC-like tools are able to serve diverse interests with respect to speed and nature of European integration. By being soft and flexible policy-tools, OMC-like tools are ideal for sensitive policy areas with very diverse national situations and represent rather a complementary form of policy-making than an alternative to the Community Method. Consequently, European integration theories need to adapt to the possibility of EU policy-making methods that are neither purely intergovernmental nor fully supranational and lead to new types of integration. OMC-like tools also illustrate the need to return to the ambition of grand theories i.e. explaining the whole picture, without relying only on one theory but rather using various approaches in a complementary fashion.

The main aim of this dissertation is to provide evidence on the development of bilateral trade relations related to manufacturing industry between Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia and the old Member States of the EU (EU 15/EU 25) through focus on the intra-industry trade phenomenon during the period delimited by years 1995, 1999, 2004 and 2007. Based on data from Eurostat Easy Comext database classified according to the Standard International Trade Classification (Rev.3), Grubel-Lloyd indices are computed at the level of 3-digit and 1-digit manufacturing industries (SITC 5, 6, 7, 8) and thereafter aggregate to the level of manufacturing sector as a whole (SITC 5 - 8). Consequently, Greenaway, Hine and Milner methodology is used for disentangling intra-industry trade into its horizontal and vertical components (the latter being further separated into low quality vertical intra-industry trade and high quality vertical intra-industry trade) on the basis of unit value indices. The results show that the share of intra-industry trade in total trade between the countries in focus is increasing during the complete period in all countries and all sectors with SITC 6, 7 and 8 clearly inclining to intra-industry specialization. Altogether, the predominant specialization in high quality vertical IIT is presented, implying so far only slowly advancing convergence steps of the new Member States towards the path of the initial Members of the EU.

During the last decades a big gap has opened between onomastics on the one side and Indo-European linguistics on the other, because the progresses made in Indo-European linguistics have not been integrated into the study of onomastics any longer in a sufficient way. The article tries to close this gap by giving an outline of some of the main features of modern Indo-European linguistics. Those features are then used to reexamine the etymologies of several presumably rather old river-names and of one of the Indo-European words for "water". This sometimes leads to a reevaluation of existing etymologies. The author hopes that this article might be seen as an incentive for researchers in onomastics to care more about the findings of Indo-European linguistics again.

During the last decades a big gap has opened between onomastics on the one side and Indo-European linguistics on the other, because the progresses made in Indo-European linguistics have not been integrated into the study of onomastics any longer in a sufficient way. The article tries to close this gap by giving an outline of some of the main features of modern Indo-European linguistics. Those features are then used to reexamine the etymologies of several presumably rather old river-names and of one of the Indo-European words for "water". This sometimes leads to a reevaluation of existing etymologies. The author hopes that this article might be seen as an incentive for researchers in onomastics to care more about the findings of Indo-European linguistics again.

Using the lives of impaired individuals catalogued in the Íslendingasögur as a narrative framework, this study examines medieval Scandinavian social views regarding impairment from the ninth to the thirteenth century. Beginning with the myths and legends of the eddic poetry and prose of Iceland, it investigates impairment in Norse pre-Christian belief; demonstrating how myth and memory informed medieval conceptualizations of the body. This thesis counters scholarly assumptions that the impaired were universally marginalized across medieval Europe. It argues that bodily difference, in the Norse world, was only viewed as a limitation when it prevented an individual from fulfilling roles that contributed to their community. As Christianity’s influence spread and northern European powers became more focused on state-building aims, Scandinavian societies also slowly began to transform. Less importance was placed on the community in favor of the individual and policies regarding bodily difference likewise changed; becoming less inclusive toward the impaired.

This thesis advances the conceptual understanding of contemporary expressions of family migration, drawing upon the case study of Old Town, Hastings, in the South East of England. Based on rich, empirical findings from semi-structured interviews, content analyses of media sources, and household surveys, it is shown that flows of family migrants into Old Town are re-focusing attention on previously under-stated motives for migration. Furthermore, it is contended that findings signal the growing importance of emerging appeals, such as more family-friendly employment practices, enhanced qualities-of-life, and alternative lifestyles ‘by the sea’. It is argued that the findings disrupt conventional conceptualisations of family migration, and illuminate more complex and complicated forms of mobility.

The thesis describes the historical evolution of the EU social policy, clarifies the concept of the European social model and deals with characteristics of the basic models of the European social policy. The essential part of the thesis is devoted to the comparison of the social systems in Germany and Sweden from the point of view of the amount of taxes and social contributions, the structure of receipts and expenditure on social policy, the systems of old age pension schemes, the family policy and the unemployment benefit. The comparison shows some typical elements of the social state model that these two countries represent. The attention is also devoted to the contemporary challenges which the European social model has to face, especially the demographic development and aspects of globalization. The attitude and responses of the European Union to these challenges are also mentioned here.

Mestrado em Finanças
A atividade de cobertura de risco na ausência de liquidez nos mercados de contratos de futuros e de opções financeiras implica ou a utilização de instrumentos "Over-the-Counter" assumindo-se o risco de contra-parte associado, ou em alternativa a aplicação de técnicas de cobertura de risco indiretas, "cross-hedging", implicando nesta caso risco de correlação. Esta temática é de extrema importância para os "index-trackers" que necessitam de cobrir o risco das suas exposições na situação em que não existem contratos de futuros relevantes (como é o caso dos correspondentes aos índices ASE, BEL20 e CYSMMAPA). Mesmo quando estes contratos existem, os insuficientes níveis de liquidez (como é o caso dos índices ATX e PSI20) tornam a cobertura de risco por esta via não eficiente, especialmente no "hedging" de curto-prazo. Consequentemente nestes casos, a cobertura de risco indireta normalmente definida como "cross-hedging", pode ser uma alternativa viável. Esta dissertação estuda a eficiência da aplicação de técnicas de "cross-hedging" na cobertura de risco de carteiras que integram Índices Europeus (alguns dos não principais) utilizando contratos de futuros mais líquidos, isto é, os que existem sobre os principais índices europeus. Concluímos que nos casos estudados a eficiência da cobertura de risco indireta depende da técnica de "cross-hedging" aplicada bem como da medida de eficiência utilizada. Adicionalmente testa-se empiricamente a hipótese explicativa entre os resultados encontrados e a integração das economias respetivas.
The exercise of hedging in the absence of a liquid futures or options market requires either the use of over-the-counter contracts with counterparty risk, or the practice of cross-hedging with mature and liquid contracts associated with correlation risk. This is a significant issue for index trackers that need to hedge their exposure while facing no relevant futures contract on the underlying stock index they are long (such as ASE,BEL20, and CYSMMAPA). Even if they exist, the severe illiquidity of these contracts (such as the ones written on ATX and PSI20) turns the exercise of opening and closing positions on a short period of time, into higher troubles than the simple speculation. Therefore, cross-hedging could with stock index futures on other markets be a possible solution. This thesis explores the goodness of cross-hedging in Europe for non-main stock indices using liquid contracts written on the main European indices. We found that the hedging performance depends on the hedging technique under scope as well as on the hedging effectiveness measure undertaken. We also hypothesize if the findings are related with the economic integration of the economies in the cross-hedge exercise.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This thesis is focusing on the major trends in the tax reform in the European Union. The direction of development from direct to indirect taxes is analyzed and it attempts to find some consistent trends in taxation between selected countries within groups of new and old member states of the European Union in 1995 - 2011. Firstly the text gives the reader an introduction to tax theory and the optimal design of tax system is presented. Thesis also focuses on the issue of tax policy in the European Union. It describes the main tax policy challenges and possible design of efficiency-enhancing tax reforms. The global macroeconomic model QUEST III is being introduced. This model is widely used by international institutions for the quantitative evaluation of the potential impacts of tax policies. Furthermore, the development and structure of the tax mix is analyzed as well as the overall tax burden and labour taxation in new and old member states of the European Union. In conclusion there is commentary to stated hypothesis that in recent years there has been increasing emphasis on indirect taxes, while the direct taxes were being reduced.

This thesis heeds W. Andrew Achenbaum’s call for historians of ageing to analyse the inner lives of their subjects. Building on and problematizing existing studies of health and welfare policies for the old, it explores the ways that mid-century public and private life shaped how individuals felt about old age. Both public discussions and private narratives of ageing are used to consider how older people understood and expressed their emotional experiences during a challenging period of the life cycle. I argue that old age in general, and its emotional dimensions in particular, are missing from British historiography. Yet both were vital to social life in the mid-century, when the ageing population was an important political issue and a large number of experts hoped to manage the emotional and psychological aspects of this ‘problem’. This thesis begins by setting out this national context for old age, showing that heightened interest in ageing and emotion were significant influences over the expansion of the welfare state. However, contrary to the expectations of mid-century researchers and policy-makers, my subsequent chapters show that older people frequently maintained their social roles and relationships through informal means. This thesis explores how ageing men and women engaged with work, retirement, ill health, marriage, bereavement, fashion, beauty culture, and autobiography as opportunities to find meaning in late life. Together, these varied perspectives on old age make a series of interventions in its history. I argue that historians could do much more to detail the significance of the life cycle for their subjects, whether they write political, social, or cultural history. As this thesis shows, such studies should approach ageing as a lifelong and personal process, which has been shaped by reminiscence and story-telling. I suggest that historians of emotion are best-equipped to write scholarship that is sensitive to the passing of time and personal biography in this way.

The imagery in Jackson Pollock's three extant sketchbooks which date from c.1934-1939 is dependent on that of other artists, especially El Greco, Rubens and Tintoretto. By 1947 however, the painter achieved a mature synthesis, distinctly his, which influenced contemporary painting, and was seminal for the work of a number of artists of the succeeding era. This dissertation is an attempt to document the phases of Pollock's artistic style from the early 1930s through to the middle 1950s, and to investigate the forces which may have catalyzed his temperament and precipitated his late style. The early sketchbooks begun in c.1934 represent Pollock's engagement with the art of the Old Masters and the teaching techniques of Thomas Hart Benton that utilized works from the Renaissance. The third sketchbook from c.1937-1939 induced him to re-examine the work of the Old Masters in a dialectical approach which incorporated new masters with old, but remained preoccupied with the sacred imagery found in the first two books. It is a resolution of these seemingly opposing modes of representation which produced several influential paintings in the early 1940s, including Guardians of the Secret and Pasiphae. At the same time these works display structural emulations related to those of Old Master paintings that would become increasingly prominent in Pollock's art. The canvases of 1947-1950, produced in what is commonly termed the “Classic Poured Period,” appear to represent a quantum leap beyond the concerns of Old Master works and European precedents. By this point Pollock had developed a fluency and assurance in his use of color and line that seems to extend further than the studied paradigmatic repetitions of his early sketchbooks. However, despite the radically new technique his paintings still exhibit pictorial and formal infrastructures derived from Renaissance paintings which were absorbed into Pollock's new idiom with surprising ease. In 1951 Pollock enters what Francis V.O'Connor termed as ‘his fourth phase'. The Black paintings of 1951-1953 betray a further exploration and adaptation of Old Master ideas, both iconographic and aesthetic and were created in Triptychs and Diptychs, typical altarpiece formats. With these paintings Pollock's forms acquired a confident plasticity and invention derived from the sculptural practices of Michelangelo, and progressively fewer individual images are quoted verbatim. An understanding of Pollock's early preoccupation with old Master painting is essential to comprehend the formation of the aesthetics of much of his later art. Significantly the underlying infrastructure remains fixed to old Master precedents and it was precisely these models of Renaissance and Baroque art which became the medium through which his mature synthesis was achieved.

Este trabalho incidiu sobre o estudo de isolados de OLV-1 obtidos de Olea europaea L. cultivada em Portugal e em especial sobre o isolado GM6. Estudaram-se as propriedades de natureza biológica e molecular e realizou-se pela primeira vez a sequenciação do genoma completo de um isolado de OLV-1 de oliveira, procedeu-se à identificação serológica e molecular de 17 isolados e à análise da variabilidade genómica destes, e compararam-se vários métodos de diagnóstico de OLV-1 aplicáveis à cultura da oliveira. O isolado GM6 transmitiu-se mecanicamente a vários hospedeiros herbáceos nos quais produziu unicamente necroses locais. As partículas virais com cerca de 30 rim de diâmetro, têm um coeficiente de sedimentação de 111 S, a cápside proteica é constituída por péptideos com 32 kDa e rodeiam uma molécula de RNA genómico de cadeia simples e de sentido positivo com 3,7 kb. Estas propriedades são semelhantes às do OLV-1 isolado italiano, de oliveira, com o qual é serologicamente relacionado. O RNA vira) é constituído por 3702 nts e está organizado em 5 ORFs, tem capacidade para codificar 5 péptidos e apresenta duas regiões não traduzidas de 60 nts e 258 nts próximas das extremidades 5' e 3', respectivamente e ainda duas regiões intercistrónicas, uma de 5 nts entre a ORF 3 e a ORF 4 e outra de 24 nts entre a ORF 4 e a ORF 5. A ORF 1 situada na extremidade 5', codifica uma proteína com Mr estimada em 23004 (p23), e a leitura continua do codão stop 'amber', origina uma proteína parcialmente idêntica à anterior com uma M, estimada em 82484 (p82) codificada pela ORF 2. Esta proteína foi identificada como a replicase vira) (RdRP), com base na elevada identidade, superior a 90%, com as RdRp de outros necrovirus. Filogeneticamente, esta proteína encontra-se no mesmo ramo filogenético que a RdRp do OLV-1 isolado de citrino. As ORF 3 e ORF 4 codificam polipéptidos com uma M, estimada de 8051 (p8) e 6268 (p6), respectivamente. Admite-se que estes polipéptidos estejam envolvidos no movimento das partículas virais de célula para célula, com base na elevada identidade com as p8 e p6 do isolado de citrino de OLV-1, 93,2% e 100%, respectivamente, que possuem a função de facilitar o movimento virai. Na extremidade 3' do genoma está localizada a ORF 5 que codifica a proteína da cápside vira) e que tem uma Mr estimada de 29853 (p30) e mostra uma identidade de 98,5% e de 87,7%, com as homólogas relativas aos isolados de túlipa e de citrino, respectivamente. A pesquisa de regiões conservadas na proteína da cápside revelou a localização do domínio S (Shell), situado entre os aminoácidos 53 e 270 e também a respectiva região de consenso deste domínio. Nesta região, que é constituída por 26 aminoácidos entre os resíduos 135 e 160, observou-se o aminoácido leucina, na 17a posição, à semelhança do que se verifica nos outros isolados de OLV-1, mas que não se observa nos outros vírus isométricos de plantas com genoma de RNA. Para além desta sequência, foram ainda identificados quatro resíduos de ligação ao Ca2+ , dois resíduos de ácido aspártico, um de lisina e um de leucina, responsáveis pela estabilidade da estrutura quaternária da cápside proteica. O isolado vira) GM6 revelou a capacidade de ser transmitido através do solo a plantas de N. benthamiana, na ausência de vectores biológicos. Nestas circunstâncias a infecção do vírus restringiu-se à parte radical, não infectando a parte aérea da planta, como se demonstrou por testes de inoculação mecânica, DAS-ELISA e RT-PCR. Neste trabalho caracterizou-se parcialmente um grupo de 23 isolados virais obtidos de oliveira, que apresentaram características de necrovirus. Uma primeira análise por DAS-ELISA permitiu identificar 17 isolados como OLV-1 e 8 como TNV (lato sensu) elou OMMV, não tendo sido possível distinguir entre estas espécies virais por o antisoro usado em ELISA ser de muito largo espectro e por o OMMV ser serologicamente muito semelhante ao TNV-D. Estes testes permitiram também verificar a ocorrência de infecções mistas numa mesma árvore, facto que pode proporcionar a recombinação genómica e originar vírus com características comuns às espécies OLV-1 e TNV-D, como é o caso já conhecido do necrovirus OMMV. Os isolados de OLV-1 identificados por DAS-ELISA foram submetidos a testes de RT-PCR com 'primers' específicos para o OLV-1, tendo-se verificado que dois desses isolados não geraram o produto amplificado esperado, não se confirmando assim a identificação serológica inicial. Esta discrepância poderá dever-se, por exemplo, a prováveis mutações na sequência nucleotidica na zona de hibridação dos 'primers' impedindo o seu emparelhamento. Os produtos de amplificação obtidos por RT-PCR aplicados a 15 dos 17 isolados de OLV-1 de oliveira, foram sujeitos a análise de SSCP. Os padrões obtidos em gel revelaram a presença de 5 padrões electroforéticos distintos, com uma, duas ou três conformações estáveis correspondendo à presença de diferentes variantes na mesma árvore. Neste trabalho foram ainda avaliados vários métodos para o diagnóstico virai, principalmente de OLV-1, directamente de tecidos de oliveira. A análise das dsRNA não constituiu, nas nossas condições, um método eficaz, pois os resultados obtidos foram sempre negativos, apesar de se saber, por outras vias (por exemplo, inoculação mecânica seguida de purificação e caracterização virai), que algumas das árvores analisadas estavam infectadas. No entanto, a utilização destas mesmas preparações de dsRNA como molde em reacções de RT-PCR, utilizando 'primers' específicos para o OLV-1, originaram resultados positivos demonstrando que os testes de RT-PCR possuem uma maior sensibilidade. A detecção de OLV-1 foi eficaz tanto aplicada a amostras provenientes de ramos como de frutos, embora o produto final da reacção de amplificação fosse menos concentrado nas amostras obtidas de frutos do que de ramos. Os testes de RT-PCR 'single-step' possibilitaram a detecção de OLV-1 em plantas de N. benthamiana infectadas e o RT-PCR 'single-step multiplex' foi optimizado para possibilitar a detecção simultânea dos 3 necrovirus que infectam a oliveira. Esta modalidade tem a vantagem de reduzir o tempo necessário para o diagnóstico e o custo em reagentes e permitiu-nos diagnosticar infecções mistas e simples dos necrovirus que infectam a oliveira em Portugal. O elevado nível de infecções virais que ocorrem nos olivais Portugueses, já verificada em outros estudos, e por outro lado a elevada sensibilidade e especificidade dos RT-PCR multiplex, demonstram claramente a importância destes e considera-se imprescindível a sua aplicação em Programas nacionais de melhoramento, de selecção e de certificação sanitária da oliveira, como exigido por legislação da União Europeia Directiva 93/48 de 23-06-93, Conformitas Agraria Communitatis (CAC). /Abstract - This work involves the study of OLV-1 isolates obtained from Olea europaea L. growing in Portugal, in particular the GM6 isolate. The biological and molecular properties were studied and the genome of an OLV-1 olive isolate was fully sequenced for the first time. Additionally, 17 different OLV-1 isolates were serological and molecularly identified and the genomic variability among them was analysed. Different methods for OLV-1 diagnoses applied to olive crop were compared and optimized for practical purposes. The GM6 isolate was mechanically transmitted to several herbaceous hosts where it produced only local necrotic lesions. Virus particles with about 30 nm in diameter, sedimented as a single component with 111 S, the coat protein is made up 32 kDa peptide subunits that surrounded a positive single strand molecule of genomic RNA with ca. 3.7 kb. The properties of this isolate are identical to that of an Italian OLV-1 isolate obtained from the Italian olives with which it is serologically related. The viral RNA is 3702 nucleotides long, is organized in 5 ORFs with the coding capacity for 5 peptides, shows two non coding regions with 60 and 258 nts in the 3' and 5' ends, respectively, and also two small inter cistronic regions, one with 5 nts between ORF 3 and ORF 4 and another with 24 nts between ORF 4 and ORF 5. The ORF 1 located in the 5' end encodes a peptide with an estimated Mr of 23004 (p23), the read through of its amber termination codon allows the translation of the ORF 2 that encodes a protein with an estimated Mr of 82484 (p82). This protein was identified as the viral replicase (RdRp) based on the high identity, over 90%, with that of other necrovirus and the phylogenetic analysis showed that it is in the same branch as that of OLV-1 citrus isolate. ORF 3 and ORF 4 encoded polypeptides with an estimated M, of 8051 (p8) and 6268 (p6), respectively, are likely to be involved in the cell-to-cell movement of virus particles. These polypeptides share a high percentage of identity with those of OLV-1 citrus isolate, 93.2% and 100%, respectively. In the 3' end of viral genome is located the ORF 5, that encodes the viral coat protein with an estimated M, of 29853 (p30), showing an identity of 98.5% and 87.7% with that of the tulip and citrus isolates. A domain search of the coat protein sequence revealed the S domain located between the 53 and 270 amino acid residue as well as the consensus pattern of that domain. In this consensus pattern constituted by the 26 amino acids located between the 135 and 160 residues, is the amino acid leucine at position 17th, which had not been considered in the described pattern. This leucine is conserved in all OLV-1 isolates in the 17th position of that sequence, but is not found in the consensus pattern of the other small icosahedral plant viroses so far compared. In the S domain were also found four sites (two for aspartic acid, one for lysine and one for asparagine) likely to be involved in Ca2+ binding, that confer the stability of the protein quaternary structure. The GM6 isolate showed the ability to be transmitted trough the soil to N. benthamiana plants in the absence of biological vectors. The virus infection was limited to the plant root system, as demonstrated by mechanical transmission, DAS-ELISA and RT-PCR tests. Additionally, in this work 23 viral isolates obtained from olive, showing necrovirus properties were partially characterized. Application of DAS-ELISA test were identified 17 isolates as OLV-1 and 8 as TNV (lato sensu) and/or OMMV. It was not possible to distinguish between these species because the antiserum used was of broad range and because OMMV is serologically very Glose to TNV-D. This test detected mixed infections in the same tree, which permits the occurrence of the genomic recombination and thus originating new viral species with characteristics of the both OLV-1 and TNV-D, as is the case of OMMV. The OLV-1 isolates identified by ELISA tests were further analysed by RT-PCR with primers specific for OLV-1. Reactions involving two of those isolates did not show the expected amplified product not confirming the previousiy serological identification. Such discrepancy may be due, for example, to mutations in the vital genomic sequence where the primers hybridize, thus preventing further amplification. The amplified products obtained from RT-PCR application to 15 OLV-1 isolates were subjected to SSCP analysis. The resulting electrophoretic profiles, revealed the presence of 5 different patterns, with one, two or three different conformations. In this work several methods for viral diagnosis, mainly OLV-1, using olive tissues were evaluated. The dsRNA analysis, in our experimental conditions, did was not an efficient method for olive virus diagnosis. The results obtained were always negative, although it was known, that some trees tested by other methods (for example, by mechanical transmission, followed by purification and viral characterization) were infected. However, the use of the same dsRNA preparations as template in RT-PCR reactions with the OLV-1 diagnostic primers showed positive results thus revealing the high sensitivity of the RT-PCR tests. The OLV-1 detection was efficient in stems as well as in fruits, but the reaction final amplified product was less concentrated when working with fruit samples than with stems. The RT-PCR single-step tests detected OLV-1 in N. benthamiana infected plants very easily but preference was given to optimizing the RT-PCR single-step multiplex to allow the simultaneous detection of the 3 necroviruses. This method saves time and reagent costs and allows the detection of mixed and simple infections in olive trees. The high level of vital infections that occurs in Portuguese olive orchards observed in previous studies, and the high specificity and sensitivity of the RT-PCR multiplex, show the great importance of these tests and clearly show the relevance of their implementation in national Programmes for breeding, selection and sanitary certification of olive cultivars, as required by European Union legislation, as Directive 93/48 from23-06-93, Conformitas Agraria Comunitatis (CAC).

Mestrado em Economia e Políticas Públicas
O objetivo desta dissertação consiste na análise da natureza das reformas das pensões não contributivas realizadas em oito Estados-membros, bem como, na discussão do seu potencial efeito na pobreza dos idosos, no período 2000-2016. O estudo empírico compreende a análise das alterações legislativas subjacentes às referidas reformas, e a caraterização das medidas de reforma no sentido de identificar a maior ou menor restrição na elegibilidade, assim como, a maior ou menor generosidade das pensões. Os resultados permitem concluir que as medidas das reformas das pensões de velhice não contributivas não parecem ter tido um potencial efeito na redução da pobreza dos idosos, apesar dos objetivos subjacentes ao princípio da adequação terem sido concretizados na generalidade.
The main goal of this thesis to analyze the nature of the non-contributory pension reforms carried out in eight Member States, as well as to discuss their potential effect on the elderly's poverty during the period 2000-2016. The empirical study includes analyzing the legislative changes underlying these reforms, and characterizing the reform measures in order to identify the greater or lesser restriction on eligibility, as well as the greater or lesser generosity of pensionas. The resultes lead to the conclusion that the non-contributory old-age pension reform measures do not appear to have had a potential effect on the reduction of old-age poverty, although the underlying objectives of the adequacy principle were generally achieved.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Background: Low socioeconomic position throughout the life course is associated with a number of adverse health outcomes in older people. However, whether life course socioeconomic position influences subjective outcomes in early old age, such as quality of life, is not well known. There is a lack of life course research that considers the wider structural determinants of health. In particular, it is not well understood if the association between life course socioeconomic position and quality of life is the same across European societies that have differing welfare state arrangements. This thesis addressed two key aims: (1) Investigate whether, and how, life course socioeconomic position influences the quality of life of Europeans in early old age. (2) Examine differences in this relationship by welfare regime. Methods: Two methodological approaches were taken to address the research objectives: (1) A systematic review of quantitative studies examining the influence of life course socioeconomic position on quality of life was conducted, with a narrative synthesis. (2) An empirical analysis was carried out examining the influence of life course socioeconomic position on the quality of life of individuals in early old age, as measured by CASP-12 and life satisfaction. This used secondary data from 13 European countries (representing Southern, Scandinavian, Post-communist, and Bismarckian welfare regimes) that were part of Wave 2 of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and SHARELIFE, which collected retrospective life histories of respondents. Two statistical techniques were used to analyse the data: multilevel modelling and path analysis. Slope indices of inequality were calculated to enable measures of socioeconomic position to be compared. Results: The systematic review identified 12 relevant studies, which varied in terms of the outcomes examined, study quality, and populations. No studies were identified from Bismarckian or Post-communist welfare regimes, with most containing populations from the Scandinavian or Liberal regime types. Some supportive evidence was found for a latent effect of low childhood socioeconomic position on quality of life among women. Social mobility models were generally not supported. High quality studies addressing inter-generational mobility were lacking and few studies examined cumulative and pathway effects. Results from the analysis using SHARE suggested that the most proximal measures of socioeconomic position were the strongest predictors of quality of life. In most welfare regimes, inequalities in quality of life were largest by current wealth, but among women in the Southern and Post-communist regimes inequalities by education level were particularly large. In the Scandinavian regime there were very small differences in quality of life between the least and most educated. Generally, there was little difference in the magnitude of socioeconomic inequalities in quality of life between Scandinavian and Bismarckian regimes. Support for a latent effect on quality of life was lacking, using most measures of childhood socioeconomic position. The findings from both the multilevel models and path analysis supported the pathway theory whereby childhood socioeconomic position chiefly influenced quality of life through later socioeconomic experiences. However, the number of books in childhood exhibited a weak association with quality of life even when taking into account current measures of socioeconomic position, suggesting a small latent effect for this measure. When stratifying by welfare regime, the potential direct effect from the number of books in childhood was specific to particular welfare regimes and genders. A greater number of socioeconomically advantaged positions over the life course was associated with higher quality of life in early old age, but the results suggested this was mainly due to the influence of socioeconomic advantage during adulthood. The association between life course socioeconomic position (as measured by a cumulative socioeconomic advantage score) and quality of life was weaker in the Scandinavian regime and stronger in Southern and Post-communist regimes. Including a measure of current financial distress greatly attenuated these associations. There was generally a lack of supportive evidence for an effect of social mobility on quality of life. Conclusions: Socioeconomic inequalities in quality of life were apparent in all welfare regimes and were largest by more proximal measures of socioeconomic position. Overall, Scandinavian and Bismarckian welfare regimes exhibited both higher quality of life and narrower inequalities in quality of life, compared to Southern and Post-communist regimes. Interventions to reduce socioeconomic inequalities across the life course are needed, but those which buffer the effect of financial distress in early old age may be particularly beneficial for improving quality of life and producing a more equitable distribution.

This paper studied the extensive margin (EM) and intensive margin (IM)of liquefied natural gas(LNG) imports in Europe over the period 1996-2015. Two econometric models were used, a prob it estimation for the EM and an OLS for the IM. A time-varying approach was conducted to analyse the stability of the models in the studied time frame. The models were constructed through the application of known determinants of LNG trade as well as new factors that previously was unused in the investigation of LNG trade. The results indicated an overall stable EM, but a highly varying IM over the period. The findings inform that the EM is driven by income, diversification and lower bounds technological development and we found that itis inhibited by pipeline imports, domestic production and higher bounds technological development. The IM is determined by favourable pricing opportunities, lower bounds technological development and the diversification aspect of LNG. IM is negatively affected by domestic natural gas production and the higher bounds of technological development.

Este trabalho incidiu na caracterização molecular de um isolado de Olive latent virus 1 (OLV-1), denominado G1A, obtido de Olea europaea L.. O isolado G1A foi transmitido mecanicamente a Nicotiana benthamiana na qual produziu necroses locais e sistémicas. A sequência parcial do genoma do isolado G1A tem 3668 nucleótidos e apresenta elevada identidade com outras sequências de OLV-1 existentes na base de dados. O isolado G1A apresenta a encapsidação de uma pequena molécula de RNA com cerca de 600 nucleótidos, previamente identificada como um RNA satélite (satRNA). Paralelamente, foi analisada a resposta de N. benthamiana à infeção por parte do isolado G1A, na presença de um isolado bacteriano termofílico 18UE/10, este obtido a partir de solo de olival do Alentejo. Esta bactéria é capaz de produzir sulfato e amónio, nutrientes importantes para o crescimento das plantas. As plantas previamente regadas com uma suspensão de 18UE/10 apresentaram sintomas retardados de infeção viral em comparação a plantas controlo. Este resultado foi um exemplo de resistência induzida pelo enxofre, devido ao sulfato produzido pelo isolado bacteriano; ABSTRACT: Study of an isolate of Olive latent virus 1: I. Molecular characterization and II. Response to the presence of plant health-promoting bacteria This work focused on the molecular characterisation of an isolate of Olive latent virus 1 (OLV-1), G1A, obtained from Olea europaea L.. Isolate G1A was mechanically transmitted to Nicotiana benthamiana plants producing local and systemic necrotic symptoms. The partial genome sequence of G1A isolate is 3668 nucleotides and has high identity with the OLV-1 sequences available in GenBank. The G1A isolate shows the encapsidation of a small RNA molecule of about 600 nucleotides, previously identified as a satellite RNA (satRNA). In addition, the response of N. benthamiana plants to G1A infection, in the presence of a bacterial thermophilic isolate 18UE/10 obtained from an olive orchard soil in Alentejo, was evaluated. This bacterial isolate produces sulphate and ammonium, important nutrients for plant growth. The plants that were watered with the bacterial suspension prior to virus inoculation showed delayed symptoms of viral infection when compared to control plants. This result was an example of the resistance induced by sulphur due to the sulphate produced by the bacterial isolate.

Les modèles proposés pour rendre compte de l’émergence du Gravettien reposent traditionnellement sur les données issues d’Europe centrale et du Sud-ouest français. Souvent perçu comme se situant aux confins des territoires gravettiens, le Nord-Ouest européen demeure généralement à l’écart de ces discussions. Cet espace dispose pourtant aujourd’hui d’une documentation permettant d’investiguer un tel sujet. A partir d’une analyse technologique des ensembles lithiques mis au jour dans les sites d’Ormesson - Les Bossats (Seine-et-Marne, France), Flagy - Belle Fontaine (Seine-et-Marne, France), Maisières-Canal (Province de Hainaut, Belgique) et de la Station de l’Hermitage (Province de Liège, Belgique), nous examinerons l’évolution du système technique lithique dans cet espace entre environ 28 000 et 26 000 BP. La reconnaissance d’une entité technique originale, antérieure aux premiers ensembles gravettiens et se développant exclusivement au sein du Nord-Ouest européen, permettra de jeter un éclairage régional particulier sur les modalités par lesquelles fut opérée l’adoption des traditions techniques rapportées au Gravettien. Ce faisant, nous tenterons de reconstituer quelques fragments de la paléohistoire des sociétés s’inscrivant dans cette période particulière, au cours de laquelle ces dernières connaissent de profonds changements enregistrés à travers tout l’espace européen
The models proposed to account for the emergence of the Gravettian are traditionally based on data from Central Europe and south-western France. Often perceived as being located on the edge of Gravettian territories, north-western Europe does not generally contribute to these debates. However, this geographical area now offers documentation for investing such a topic. Based on a technological analysis of lithic assemblages from the sites of Ormesson - Les Bossats (Seine-et-Marne, France), Flagy - Belle Fontaine (Seine-et-Marne, France), Maisières-Canal (Province of Hainaut, Belgium) and Station de Hermitage (Province of Liege, Belgium), we will examine the evolution of the lithic technical system in this region between approximately 28,000 and 26,000 BP. The recognition of an original technical entity, that preceded the first Gravettian assemblages and developed exclusively in north-western Europe, will throw a particular light on the way the technical traditions related to the Gravettian were acquired in this region. In doing so, we will try to reconstruct some fragments of the paleohistory of the societies belonging to this particular period, during which they experienced profound changes recorded throughout Europe
Modellen over de opkomst van het Gravettian zijn traditioneel gebaseerd op gegevens afkomstig van Midden-en Zuidwest-Frankrijk, waarbij de gevens uit Noordwest-Europa over het algemeen achterwege blijven, gezien deze regio wordt beschouwd al een grensgebied van het Gravettian. De regio beschikt tegenwoordig over gegevens die wel toelaten om dit onderwerp te onderzoeken. Hier onderzoeken we de evolutie van het lithische technische systeem in deze regio tussen ongeveer 28.000 en 26.000 BP op basis van een technologische analyse van lithische assemblages afkomstig van de sites van Ormesson - Les Bossats (Seine-et-Marne, Frankrijk), Flagy - Belle Fontaine (Seine-et-Marne, Frankrijk), Maisières-Canal (Provincie Henegouwen, België) en het Hermitage Station (Provincie de Luik, België). De identificatie van een originele technische entiteit, voorafgaand aan de eerste gravettische ensembles en dewelke zich uitsluitend ontwikkeld in het noordwesten van Europa, laten ons toe om een specifiek regionaal licht te werpen op de adoptie van de technische tradities gerelateerd aan het Gravettian. Op basis hiervan proberen we enkele fragmenten uit de paleogeschiedenis van deze samenlevingen te reconstrueren, een periode waarbij ingrijpende veranderingen hebben plaatsgevonden op schaal van het gehele Europese grondgebied
Bestehende Modelle zur Entwicklung des Gravettiens beruhen traditionellerweise auf Angaben aus Zentraleuropa und dem Südwesten Frankreichs. Der Nordwesten Europas wurde im Vergleich eher als ein Randgebiet des Gravettiens wahrgenommen und erhielt folglich nur geringe Aufmerksamkeit. Heute verfügt dieses Gebiet allerdings über umfassendes Untersuchungsmaterial, das eine Studie dieses Themenfeldes ermöglicht. Mittels einer technologischen Untersuchung lithischer Inventare der Fundplätze von Ormesson - Les Bossats (Seine-et-Marne, Frankreich), Flagy - Belle Fontaine (Seine-et-Marne, Frankreich), Maisières-Canal (Provinz Hennegau, Belgien) und der Station de l‘Hermitage (Provinz de Lüttich, Belgien), untersuchen wir die technologische Entwicklung der Steinartefakte in diesem Gebiet zwischen 28 000 und 26 000 v. Chr. Die Erkennung eines technisch einheitlichen Ursprungs, der sich vor den ersten Gravettien-Beständen und innerhalb des Nordwestens Europas entwickelt hat, bietet einen besonderen regionalen Blickwinkel auf die Übernahme der technologischen Traditionen, die dem Gravettien zugeordnet werden. So werden wir versuchen einzelne Fragmente paläohistorischer Gesellschaften aus einem Zeitraum zu rekonstruieren, in dem im gesamten europäischen Gebiet tiefgreifende Veränderungen aufgezeichnet wurden

L’allongement de la durée de la vie humaine et le déficit du rapport démographique constituent de véritables défis pour les systèmes sociaux des États membres. Pour y faire face, les législateurs doivent à la fois développer une politique de protection des plus jeunes dans le cadre des relations professionnelles, tout en revisitant les logiques des seuils d’âge notamment au regard de la fin de ces relations. Cette étude a vocation à s’interroger sur l’existence d’un concept de l’âge. Fort d’une histoire culturelle, confortée par une analyse du phénomène physiologique du vieillissement par le législateur, le critère de l’âge entretient des liens particuliers avec les principes généraux du droit de l’Union, tel que le principe de la dignité humaine et le principe de l’égalité de traitement. Malgré tout, le critère de l’âge conserve une ambivalence certaine, mise en exergue à travers le principe général du droit de l’Union de non-discrimination à raison de l’âge. Cette ambivalence se manifeste plus fortement encore à l’issue des relations professionnelles, posant ainsi la question de la place de l’âge à la fin de la vie active. Ce curseur au soutien du pacte intergénérationnel, conditionnant le bénéfice de la liquidation de la pension, connaît actuellement un renouveau, dépassant les frontières des États membres. Une convergence dans le traitement de la vieillesse se crée, tendant au développement de nouvelles solidarités dans le cadre de l’entreprise (régimes professionnels d’entreprise). Il s’agit en outre de favoriser la poursuite de l’activité à un âge élevé (relèvement de l’âge légal de la retraite, décote, surcote, encadrement des régimes dérogatoires, prohibition des ruptures de la relation de travail fondée sur l’âge…) et de repenser les rapports entre les relations de travail et l’âge (cumul emploi - retraite, retraite progressive…). Ce faisant, les législateurs promeuvent un traitement de l’âge qui s’inscrit dans la problématique générale de la longévité humaine en Europe
Dealing with longer life expectancy and demographic deficit is currently a huge challenge for the social system of European member states. To face this challenge, it is necessary for legislators to develop a dedicated protection policy for the young people in a business relationship context and, at the same time, to redefine age limits policy especially in business relationship termination situation.. The presented study focuses on the factuality of the « age » concept. Based on cultural history, confirmed by the legislator analysis of the physiological aging, « age » criterion is closely linked to general principles in E.U. legislation like, for example, the human dignity and the equal treatment. However, the « age » criterion still remains ambivalent which is underlined by the non-discrimination principle. This ambiguity is emphasized in business relationships which leads to the influence of the « age » in an ending working life situation. This intergenerational pact support, which influence the proceed of the pension liquidation, is currently experiencing a revival beyond E.U. member state boundaries. A converging point is achieved in old-age treatment which leads to new solidarity development schemes inside companies (like for example the company occupational scheme). An important objective is to promote the pursuance of a professional activity in order to retire later (increasing in the statutory retirement age, increment or reduce of the retirement pension, restriction of derogations, proscription of business relationship breaches if they are based on age, …) and to redefine the connection between age and business relationships (combined work and retirement, phased retirement, …). By this way, legislators promote a human longevity based age treatment in Europe

From the adventures of Odysseus to those of the male Grand Tourist, travel has often been regarded as an important rite of masculine self-fashioning. However, as this thesis argues, travel and travel writing also provided a valuable opportunity for women's self-fashioning: journeys offered women a means of altering themselves, enabling them to assume a novel identity abroad and in text, whether it be a subversive or idealised version of themselves. Drawing upon Judith Butler's and Sidonie Smith's theories of performativity, this thesis investigates Victorian women travel writers' impulse to self-fashioning, and argues for travel writing as a performative act of identity-formation. Drawing on Butler's notion of subversive repetition, this thesis also demonstrates the ways in which the instability of women authors' narrative identities gives them a potential for agency, enabling authors to unsettle prescribed gender boundaries and challenge cultural constructions of femininity. In particular, I examine the constructed textual travel identities of the following nineteenth-century British women: Anna Jameson, Susan Horner, Emily Lowe, and Frances Minto Elliot. I highlight the discursive strategies that these four authors use in order to create certain images of themselves for their readers in their travelogues about Italy, all published (or, in the case of Horner, written) between the years 1826 and 1881. Jameson, Horner, Lowe, and Elliot also reconfigure traditional notions of travel and gender in their travelogues to articulate and perform definitions of selves that are not necessarily exemplary – at least not at first glance. I examine the ways in which these nineteenth-century authors adopt apparently undesirable selfhoods ('ill', 'intellectual', 'unprotected', and 'idle') and turn supposed weaknesses into strengths. This thesis also analyses the significance of Italy for the travel narrators and their self-representation in relation to the peninsula. Italy signalled a meaningful difference from Britain, and these authors represent it as a positive space for healing, intellectual growth, pleasure, fulfilment, and self-determination. The constructed identities of these four authors result in 'travel performances' that aim to persuade readers of the narrators' aptitude for travel and of their especially meaningful attachment to, experience of, and understanding of Italy. This thesis does not only provide a space for voices which have until now been little recognised in contemporary scholarship. It also sheds light on an important form of Victorian women’s writing that was a valuable route towards cultural and intellectual authority and self-empowerment, as well as a means of personal and professional self-fashioning.

Estudios epidemiológicos evidencian que en los países de la cuenca mediterránea se observa una menor incidencia de enfermedades cardiovasculares que en el resto de los países. La aterosclerosis es el resultado de una respuesta inflamatoria de la pared arterial, adoptando dicho proceso un carácter crónico, en el cual, la acumulación de lipoproteína de baja densidad (LDL) es uno de de los episodios asociados al desarrollo de lesiones. La LDL oxidada, por su capacidad de adherirse y formar células espumosas es altamente aterogénica. La composición de la LDL contribuye al proceso de oxidación de esta partícula, y diferentes factores de la dieta, especialmente el tipo de ácidos grasos contenidos y compuestos antioxidantes, pueden influir sobre dicha composición. El aceite de oliva, rico en ácidos grasos monoinsaturados (AGMI), que son menos susceptibles a la oxidación y rico en compuestos antioxidantes se le relaciona directamente con la disminución del riesgo cardiovascular.

Estudios in vitro han demostrado la capacidad de los compuestos fenólicos del aceite de oliva virgen para proteger a la LDL de los procesos oxidativos. Sin embargo, in vivo, este hecho está condicionado por la disposición y cinética de dichos compuestos en la LDL. El objetivo principal de este trabajo es evaluar en humanos los efectos del consumo del aceite de oliva sobre la composición de las LDL y su relación con la oxidación de las mismas.

Se ha desarrollado un método por extracción en fase sólida y detección por HPLC-DAD-MS/MS para determinar los compuestos fenólicos presentes en el aceite de oliva virgen. Éste contiene un amplio conjunto de compuestos fenólicos, principalmente derivados de oleuropeína y ligstrósido, y entre ellos se observa la presencia de diversos isómeros.

Por otro lado, se ha diseñado un método para la detección y cuantificación de metabolitos de compuestos fenólicos del aceite de oliva en LDL. Los metabolitos sulfatados y glucurónidos del hidroxitirosol, tirosol y el metabolito sulfatado de ácido homovainíllico están presentes en LDL después del consumo del aceite de oliva virgen, y la concentración de compuestos fenólicos del aceite de oliva modula el contenido de compuestos fenólicos de la LDL incrementando en una manera dosis-dependiente con el contenido de compuestos fenólicos en el aceite consumido y modula el balance oxidativo/antioxidativo en plasma y LDL a largo plazo y en situaciones de estrés oxidativo. Por otro lado, dosis habitualmente consumidas de aceite de oliva, incrementan el porcentaje de ácido graso oleico en LDL, por lo que el consumo regular de dosis moderadas de aceite de oliva puede proporcionar protección sobre la oxidación de la LDL.
The traditional dietary habits of the Mediterranean area have been consistently associated with lower incidence of cardiovascular disease. Oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL) is currently thought to be more damaging to the arterial wall than native LDL cholesterol, because of the toxicity of the oxidized particle that is a pro-oxidant agent that cause tissue injury an it is a hall marker for atherosclerotic process development. Olive oil, rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and antioxidant minor components, is considered to be favourable for cardiovascular health, because generate LDL particles which appear to be more resistant to oxidation.

Data from in vitro and in vivo studies show that the phenolic compounds protect LDL from lipid peroxidation. Due to this, the bioactivity of olive oil phenolic compounds in human would be determined by the in vivo disposition and kinetics of the biological metabolites of these compounds. The principal aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of olive oil phenolic compounds in human LDL and the impact of the phenolic content of the olive oil ingested on the degree of lipid oxidative damage.

A simple and reproducible method for qualitative and quantitative analysis of phenolic compounds in virgin olive oils by solid-phase extraction (SPE), high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) and HPLC-mass spectrometry (MS) in tandem mode was developed.

In the other hand olive oil phenolic metabolites were identified in LDL using high-performance liquid chromatography in tandem with electrospray mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) detection, after SPE. The metabolites identified in LDL were: hydroxytyrosol monoglucuronide, hydroxytyrosol monosulfate, tyrosol glucuronide, tyrosol sulfate and homovanillic acid sulfate. These compounds are present in LDL after the olive oil consumption. Olive oil phenolic content seems to modulate the LDL phenolic content and the consumption of olive oil at real life doses improved the fatty acid profile in LDL, the changes being associated to a reduction of the oxidative damage to lipids and LDL.

Writers from both world wars, concerned with the representation of war, wrestled with the predicament of partial sight. Their work reveals the problematic dichotomy that exists between the individual’s selective range of vision and the immense scale of conflict. Central to this authorial dilemma is the question of the visual frame: how do you contain – within the written word – sight that resists containment and expression? The scale of the two world wars accentuated the representative problem of warfare. This thesis, by examining a wide range of World War One and World War Two literature, explores the varied literary responses to the topical relationship between sight and reality in wartime. It examines the war poetry of Wilfred Owen, Ford Madox Ford’s tetralogy Parade’s End, The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West, Elizabeth Bowen’s The Heat of the Day, and Virginia Woolf’s novels Mrs Dalloway and Between the Acts alongside less well-known works such as David Jones’s prose-poem In Parenthesis, the two short stories ‘The Soldier Looks for His Family’ by John Prebble and ‘The Blind Man’ by D.H. Lawrence, as well as William Sansom’s collection of short stories Fireman Flower, and Louis Simpson’s war poetry. This thesis, by focussing on the inherent difficulties of reconciling perception and representation in war, interrogates the boundaries of sight and the limits of representation. The changing place of sight in writing from the two world wars is examined and the extent to which discourses of vision were shaped and developed, in the early decades of the twentieth century, by war experience is explored. The critical containment and categorisation of sight that often dominates readings of sight in texts from both world wars is questioned suggesting the need for a more flexible understanding of, and approach towards, sight.

The general focus of this thesis is on how the family, work and the welfare system are intertwined. A major determinant is the way responsibilities are shared by the state, the market and civil society in different welfare state regimes. An introductory chapter will therefore be dedicated to the development of the social dimension in the process of European integration. A first chapter will then go deeper into the comparative analysis of welfare state regimes, to comment on the provision of welfare in societies with a different mix of state, market and societal welfare roles and to assess the adequacy of existing typologies as reflections of today’s changed socio-economic, political and gender reality. Although they stand strong on their own, these first two chapters also contribute to contextualising the research subject of the remainder of the thesis: the study and comparison of the differential situation of women and men and of mothers and non-mothers on the labour markets of the EU-15 countries as well as of the role of public policies with respect to the employment penalties faced by women, particularly in the presence of young children. In our analysis, employment penalties are understood in three ways: (i) the difference in full-time equivalent employment rates between mothers and non-mothers, (ii) the wage penalty associated with motherhood, and (iii) the wage gap between part-time and full-time workers, considering men and women separately. Besides from a gender point of view, employment outcomes and public policies are thus assessed comparatively for mothers and non-mothers. Because women choose to take part in paid employment, fertility rates will depend on their possibilities to combine employment and motherhood. As a result, motherhood-induced employment penalties and the role of public policies to tackle them should be given priority attention, not just by scholars, but also by politicians and policy-makers.
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Etude des facteurs de degradation des batiments et ouvrages anciens en pierre calcaire sous influence marine le long de la facade littorale atlantique francaise, en examinant deux situations : zone de marnage, et milieu aerien. Datation des ouvrages et localisation de la provenance des materiaux (carrieres a ciel ouvert et souterraines). Essais divers sur echantillons provenant des carrieres et d'une digue ancienne soumise au marnage, ainsi que de divers batiments historiques en refection (carottage, essais physiques et mecaniques, technique particuliere de mesure de la vitesse du son dans les carottes). Developpement d'un appareil pour la simulation acceleree de l'alteration aerienne, reproduisant les phenomenes naturels observe sur les monuments et sur les falaises naturelles

This thesis is an account of the poet and critic W.H. Auden's relations with Germany and Germans over the course of his life (1907-1973), presented through a selection of influences that have received little critical attention in the corpus of secondary literature to date. While these connections and influences are manifold and sometimes disparate, they can serve as a prism to tell Auden's life-story from a particular, relatively unexplored angle and to illuminate his work. The thesis is divided into three chapters. Chapter One discusses Auden’s engagement with German literature before 1928, his reasons for spending nine months in Weimar Berlin 1928-29, and the formative influence of this experience on his life and work. Chapter Two explores Auden's relationship with his 'in-laws', the famous family of Nobel Prize winning author Thomas Mann, and Auden's choice of an international life-style. Chapter Three discusses various other, later German influences on Auden: his visit to Germany with the US Army and its traces in The Age of Anxiety; issues concerning the German translation of this text; his Ford Foundation residence in isolated West Berlin; and his intellectual friendship with Hannah Arendt. Introduction and Conclusion embed these three specific chapters, deliberating the topic more abstractly. A number of appendices bring together a wide range of unpublished sources – and their translations into English, if the original is composed in German. Translations of all German appendix material can be found in the appendix itself.

This thesis examines the intersections of the concept of pilgrimage and the visual imagination in Britain from the years 1790 to 1850. Historically, distinctions between understandings of pilgrimage as motif, metaphor, artistic process, and actual journey have been blurred to varying degrees, resulting in the creation of images that were at once narratives, memorials, and stimuli for contemplative journeys from pictorial space to imagination. In the first half of the nineteenth century, religious architecture, sacred landscapes, and the emblematic figure of the pilgrim with coat, hat, and scrip functioned as temporal reminders of a promised land to come, as mediated through artistic practice. Through a close analysis of a range of interrelated visual sources, I contend that pilgrimage, both in practice and as a form of mental contemplation, helped to shape the religious, literary, and artistic imagination of the period and beyond. This study draws out the various levels at which pilgrimage engaged the visual imagination. In doing so it offers a detailed perspective on the conjunction of content, form, meaning, and process for artists and theorists, as notions of the transfer of ‘spirit’ from sacred space to represented space re-emerged as a key aspect of the theological and artistic discourse of the period. Chapter 1 outlines the antiquarian dissemination of medieval pilgrimage texts and images. I suggest that an awareness of pilgrimage as embodying the real and imagined emerged with the recovery of allegorical texts, histories of actual pilgrimages, and an interest in pilgrimage souvenirs. The discussion moves on to intersections between pilgrimage and religious art in Chapters 2 - 4, including the idea of painting as pilgrimage, as demonstrated through specific case studies, and the refashioning of relics and religious ruins as contemporary sites of pilgrimage (Chapter 5).

Créée en 1719 pour lancer une nouvelle représentation de la sphère « commerciale » au sein de la généralité, la Chambre de commerce de La Rochelle, point central d’une organisation institutionnelle complexe, participe activement à la vie politique et économique du royaume. Malgré la rivalité organique qui la fragilise, cette neuvième chambre parvient finalement à se présenter comme l’interlocuteur privilégié du négociant et son plus fervent défenseur. En tant qu’intermédiaire entre les rouages du pouvoir et les maisons de commerce, elle devient le pilier du négoce de la généralité et aussi sa mémoire, en collectant une abondante correspondance et de nombreux écrits touchant au commerce. Inscrite dans une logique de participation mais aussi de contestation, sa défense des intérêts locaux au sein du vaste intérêt national trouve tout particulièrement à s’exprimer dans les relations commerciales avec l’Europe du Nord. Certes, les préoccupations essentielles du commerce sont ailleurs, dans la mesure où ce circuit maritime ne saurait rivaliser en importance avec le trafic colonial et la traite négrière. Pour autant, les négociants rochelais n’entendent pas se résigner à la situation de fait qui prévaut dans la route du Nord : des denrées coloniales et des marchandises françaises fort convoitées par l’espace septentrional, mais transportées presque exclusivement sous pavillon étranger. Connus pour être de « grands disputeurs et faiseurs de mémoires », les Rochelais ne manquent pas d’analyser au fond les causes de la crise du commerce direct entre le Nord de l’Europe et le royaume. Ils dénoncent non seulement la mainmise quasi hégémonique des Anglais et des Hollandais sur cette voie d’échanges, mais également les mesures adoptées par les bureaux de Versailles qu’ils jugent trop timides. Cette réalité, expliquée jusqu’alors par des considérations d’ordre économique, politique et culturel, se colore de tout autres teintes si l’on prend en considération la norme juridique. Analysée à plusieurs niveaux et dans plusieurs dimensions, cette dernière révèle une inégalité de traitement manifeste entre négociants français et étrangers. Ententes diplomatiques, traités internationaux, législation douanière, cadre institutionnel, toutes les composantes de la règle de droit jouent un rôle important dans le fonctionnement de ce circuit maritime. Toutefois, la corrélation entre la règle de droit et le commerce du Nord ne saurait être appréhendée par la seule étude des échanges avec le port de La Rochelle. Le regard doit se porter également vers les modèles institutionnels et douaniers septentrionaux. Or ces derniers confirment que la spécificité de la norme juridique dans certains États du Nord constitue un élément déterminant de cette carte maritime. Et au-delà de ce constat, l’analyse attentive de l’un des plus anciens monuments du droit maritime médiéval, par ailleurs à l’origine de la ligue hanséatique, conduit à une singulière découverte : ce texte, connu sous le nom de « Lois de Visby » laisse transparaître, dans le berceau même de l’Europe du Nord, une très nette influence romaine
Created in 1719 to launch a new representation of the "trade” sphere within the general population, the La Rochelle Chamber of Commerce, the central point of a complex institutional organization, participates actively in the political and economic life of the kingdom. In spite of the organic rivalry which weakens it, this ninth Chamber succeeds finally in becoming the privileged representative of the trader and its most fervent supporter. As the middleman between the wheels of power and the trading companies, it becomes not only the mainstay of popular trade, but also its recorder, by collecting numerous items of correspondence and papers relating to trade. In a policy of both participation and dispute, its defense of local interests within the vast national interest is especially to be found in business relations with Northern Europe. Admittedly, the main trade concerns are elsewhere, as this maritime circuit could never compete in importance with colonial traffic and the slave trade. For all that, the Rochelais traders do not intend to give up - which is shown in the route to the North: colonial commodities and French products, strongly desired by the North, but transported almost exclusively under a foreign flag. Famous for being "big debaters and memory makers", the Rochelais do not fail to analyze the root causes of the direct business crisis between Northern Europe and the kingdom. They denounce not only the almost hegemonic control that both the English and the Dutch have over these trade routes, but also the measures adopted by the Versailles offices which they consider too timid. This reality, explained until then, by economic, political and cultural considerations, looks completely different if we consider the legal rule. Analyzed on several levels and in several dimensions, the latter reveals an obvious disparity of treatment between French and foreign traders. Diplomatic agreements, international treaties, customs legislation, institutional framework, all the components of legal rule, play an important role in the functioning of this maritime circuit. However, the correlation between legal rule and trade with the North could not be explained merely by the observance of trade exchanges with the port of La Rochelle. The northern institutional and customs models must also be examined. And yet these models confirm that the specificity of legal rule in some Northern States constitutes a determining element of this maritime chart. Furthermore, the careful analysis of one of the oldest monuments of medieval maritime law, at the origin of the Hanseatic league, leads to a singular discovery: this text, known by the name of "Lois de Visby" shows clearly, in the cradle of Northern Europe, a very clear Roman influence

During the eighteenth century, the dominant rhetorical and explanatory power of civic humanism was gradually challenged by the rise of a new organising language in political economy. Political economic thought permitted radically different descriptions of what laudable private and public behaviour might be: it proposed that self-interest was often more beneficial to society at large than public-mindedness; that luxury had its uses and might not be a threat to liberty and political integrity; that landownership was no particular guarantee of virtue or disinterest; and that there was nothing inherently superior about frugality and self-sufficiency. These new ideas about civil society formed the intellectual basis of a large body of verse written during the long eighteenth century (at mid-century in particular), in which poets engaged enthusiastically with political economic arguments and defences of commercial activity, and celebrated the wealth and plenty of Britain as a modern trading nation. The work of my thesis is to examine a contradiction in the way in which these political economic ideas were handled. Forward-looking and confident poetry on public themes did not develop pioneering forms to suit the modernity of its outlook: instead, poets articulated such themes in verse by appropriating and reframing traditional genres, which in some cases involved engaging with inherited moral values and philosophical preferences entirely at odds with the intellectual material in hand. This inventive kind of generic revision is the central interest of the thesis. It aims to describe a number of problematic meeting points between new political economic thought and handed-down poetic formulae, and it will focus attention on some of the ways in which poets manipulated the forms and tropes they inherited in order to manage – and make the most of – the resulting contradictions.

It is now broadly accepted that Vaughan Williams's music betrays a more complex relation to national influences than has traditionally been assumed. It is argued in this thesis that despite the trends towards revisionism that have characterized recent work, Vaughan Williams's interest in and engagement with English folk materials and cultures remains only partially understood. Offering contextual interpretation of materials newly available in the field, my work takes as its point of departure the critical neglect surrounding Vaughan Williams's contradictory compositional debut, in which he denounced the value of folk song in English art music in an article published alongside his song 'Linden Lea', subtitled 'A Dorset Folk Song'. Reconstructing the under-documented years of the composer's early career, it is demonstrated that Vaughan Williams's subsequent 'conversion' and lifelong attachment to folk song emerged as part of a broader concern with the intelligible and participatory quality of song and its performance by the human voice. As such, it is argued that the ways in which this composer theorized an idea of 'song' illuminate a powerful perspective from which to re-consider the propositions of his project for a national music. Locating Vaughan Williams's writings within contemporaneous cultural ideas and practices surrounding 'song', 'voice', and 'Englishness', this work brings such contexts into dialogue with readings of various of the composer's works, composed both before and after the First World War. It is demonstrated in this way that the rehabilitation of Vaughan Williams's music and reputation profitably proceeds by reconstructing a complex dialogue between his writings; between various cultural ideas and practices of English music; between the reception of his works by contemporaneous critics; and crucially, by considering the propositions of his music as explored through analysis. Ultimately, this thesis contends that Vaughan Williams's music often betrays a complex and self-conscious performance of cultural ideas of national identity, negotiating an optimistic or otherwise ambivalent relationship to an English musical tradition that is constructed and referenced through a particular idea of song.

This dissertation proposes a paradigm in which the political martyrs of Ireland serve as a continuous reproduction of a heroic pattern of martyrdom. Within this model are contained particular mythic patterns of thought. By studying these patterns in relation to Patrick Sarsfield, I intend to show that in the creation of Irish political martyrs a mythology of martyrdom was fashioned and refashioned continuously in different periods of Irish history. This work is an interdisciplinary study, comprising history, mythology, and literature. An examination of the Sarsfield legend reveals that the stories of Sarsfield provide a reassuring connection to an established image of an heroic and glorious Irish past. Irish nationalists have utilized the image of an heroic Ireland, struggling to free itself from centuries of oppression, as part of their construction of martyrs. The transference of characteristics associated with ancient warrior and kingly classes in Ireland to modern nationalist martyrs allows or the continuous witnessing of the tradition of Irish martyrdom. The construction of a mythology of martyrdom serves the needs of a particular community which feels the need to reaffirm or reestablish their identity. The martyrs serve as a continual reaffirmation of communal identity. The Sarsfield stories show that each historical generation reinterprets the deeds of the man in relation to their own perceived circumstances. In this process of creation, the complexities of the individual are simplified, as each martyr must fit a certain mask of martyrdom. An examination of Sarsfield and his legend shows that this method of historical and literary analysis reveals a "demythologized" Sarsfield, and a "mythologized" Sarsfield. Each version is equally valid and useful in understanding a communities perception and creation of their identity.

This thesis is intended as an examination of what 'poetic language' entails in terms of both its form and its function, particularly with respect to the Indo-European (and specifically the Old Irish) tradition. The methodology for reconstructing Proto-Indo-European is introduced, and the Indo-European poetic tradition is considered both linguistically and culturally. Both the poet and his audience participate in the poetic culture of the Indo-Europeans, and consequently both are discussed in terms of their respective degrees of competence in the poetic language; the social function and training of the poet in particular are considered. It is argued that Indo-European poetic language, and the poetic forms descended from it, define the norms of the use of language for all artistic purposes. It is shown through the analysis of poetic features in a prose passage from the Old Irish text Táin Bó Cúailnge that the language of poetry has influenced the artistic use of language so that even prose composition contains poetic features, resulting in a parapoetic style that is distinct from the stylistically less marked prose more usual in the narrative tradition.