Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2023-05"
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- A vítima de crime e o seu direito à ação e ao processo penal justoPublication . Martins, Charles Emil Machado; Mendes, Paulo de SousaO presente trabalho tem como escopo contribuir para o desenvolvimento científico do fenômeno da redescoberta da vítima, apresentando como parâmetro o processo penal do Estado Democrático de Direito. Para tanto, parte de uma análise histórica dos modelos de processo penal, e passa, a título ilustrativo, pela atual configuração do processo penal alemão, português e brasileiro, até chegar à concepção de que a constitucionalização do processo penal, somada à denominada “convencionalização” dos direitos e garantias judiciais, exige alteração na postura dos legisladores, doutrinadores e aplicadores do Direito Processual Penal no que diz respeito aos interesses da vítima de crime, notadamente naquilo que se refere ao seu acesso à tutela jurisdicional efetiva e ao seu direito ao processo devido, justo e equitativo. Com base na compreensão de que a sua temática requer uma abordagem multidisciplinar, visitam-se outros enfoques, procurando contribuir para aquilo que a doutrina penalista chama de “ciência conjunta do Direito Penal”. Os questionamentos e as proposições levadas a efeito no decorrer deste trabalho têm o intuito de melhor fundamentar a legitimidade da participação efetiva da vítima no processo, na busca de concretizar seus interesses indenizatórios e/ou persecutórios, sem que disso resulte em ilegítimo retrocesso naquilo que tange aos direitos e garantias já amplamente assegurados ao arguido. Com estofo em uma pesquisa da literatura jurídica, das normas imperativas advindas do Direito Internacional dos Direitos Humanos e da legislação processual penal brasileira, portuguesa e alemã, o trabalho propõe, enfim, uma evolução na compreensão do Direito Processual Penal contemporâneo, de modo a torná-lo mais compatível com o respeito à dignidade da pessoa vítima de crime. O trabalho denomina esse avanço de “outra face da humanização do processo penal”.
- A review of post-construction monitoring practices used in the evaluation of transmission power line impacts on birds and mitigation effectiveness, with proposals for guideline improvementPublication . Martins, Ricardo C.; Bernardino, Joana; Moreira, FranciscoBird mortality by collision is one of the major biodiversity impacts of transmission power lines. The European Union legislation determines that overhead power lines subject to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure should be monitored at post-construction to confirm the predicted impacts, and evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented mitigation measures. In light of the frequent calls to improve study design and quality of field data in EIA context, we reviewed a decade (2004–2015) of post-construction monitoring practices adopted in Portugal for assessing the impacts caused by transmission lines (150–400 kV) on birds and evaluating wire-marking effectiveness to reduce collisions, the main mitigation measure. We reviewed 31 monitoring programs to (i) characterize the practices (field surveys and its methods) adopted, (ii) identify specific objectives behind field surveys, (iii) detect the main methodologic limitations, and (iv) provide guidelines to improve future bird monitoring programs. Overall, reviewed studies contained significant field efforts, always including bird carcass surveys (very often with trials to assess carcass detection and persistence biases) to estimate mortality rates and often including surveys to determine bird abundance and the frequency of flights crossing the wires. However, we also found limitations, namely (i) a frequent lack of clear reporting of specific objectives behind field surveys, hindering the usefulness of data collected, (ii) a dominance of poor methodological approaches evaluating indirect impacts and wire marking effectiveness, and (iii) the (less frequent) use of inadequate protocols and a lack of standardization, hindering comparability across studies. To overcome these limitations, we propose a methodological framework and specific recommendations to improve current practices for measuring the impacts of new transmission lines on birds and evaluating the effectiveness of wire-marking to reduce collisions. Although developed for the Portuguese EIA context, these recommendations are likely applicable to many other countries.
- Linking the effects of nursery light and fertilization and post‑transplant first summer irrigation on the field survival and growth of Pinus pinaster seedlingsPublication . Al Pavel, Muha Abdullah; Bravo, Felipe; Ordóñez, Cristóbal; Rodríguez‑García, EncarnaSeedling size-related functional attributes of Mediterranean forest species are critical traits to be considered in nursery practices aimed at improving the survival and performance of seedlings exposed to summer drought in dryland reforestation projects. We looked at how nursery light regimes and nitrogen fertilization affected the survival and performance of Pinus pinaster Ait. under contrasting post-planting watering regimes. Seedlings grown in the nursery for 13 months were given low or high nitrogen doses and exposed to three light regimes (full sun, medium light and low light). After outplanting, half of the seedlings were watered fortnightly during the hottest months of the first summer and the other half were left unwatered. Seedling size-related variables (shoot height, basal diameter, stem volume and sturdiness quotient) were measured at the beginning and at the end of the study, and summer drought survival was checked three times. Our results showed that fertilization and the nursery light regime influenced initial seedling quality and transplant stress. Post-plant- ing first summer watering also increased seedling survival probability. The medium-light and especially the full-sunlight regimes in the nursery decreased the probability of seedling mortality after outplanting. However, a low-light regime in the nursery negatively affected plant traits and increased the probability of post-planting seedling mortality. In comparison with low-N seedlings, high-N fertilization increased post-planting stress (evaluated in the change of sturdiness quotient after one field growth season), but did not affect survival
- Sustainable packaging : financial analysis of increasing RPET contentPublication . Rodrigues, João Pedro Fernandes; Gonçalves, Ana MartinsThe production of fossil-based plastics can be credited with the usage of around 4% to 8% of oil and gas globally, with current trends pointing to upwards of 20% in 2050, making this material a threat to the worsening of greenhouse emissions and global warming (Hopewell et al., 2009; Rhodes, 2018). Within this problematic, the pollution created by single-use bottles has received a lot of regulatory oversight, with an increasing number of methods for the reduction of said waste having been developed in response to said regulations. One of the most popularly used materials within this market is Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), with Recycled Polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) standing out as the most economically and environmentally sustainable alternative. With the introduction of regulations for the quantity of recycled content in PET bottles, several markets have been affected, though little regard has been given to the consequences of setting benchmarks that may be “overly prescriptive and market intrusive” (Ilie & Jurconi, 2019), with the market for rPET currently suffering from a supply-demand imbalance that has led to claims of economically unsustainable regulations. The goal of this research was to assess the degree to which the rPET level in the current legislation, and superior levels of rPET content, affects the financial viability of products that use said materials. This being done through a financial viability analysis of introducing increasing amounts of this material in an existing, established olive-oil product. It was found that for 30%, 50%, and 75% rPET content, financial viability could be reached for this specific unit in a static setting, this being concluded through an analysis of the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of consumers, measured by form of a questionnaire, and translated into the price sensitivity of demand of the three aforementioned product variants.
- Following a new tax leader : the urge to implement Formulary Apportionment in the European UnionPublication . Vicente, Joana AndradeIn this paper we analyse the United States’ role as the current international tax leader, acting as an institutional leader uncapable of pushing forward towards a new, more suitable international corporate tax regime, due to the particularities of its international taxation system and economic preferences. After assessing United States multinationals’ activity in the Single Market, we find evidence of artificial profit shifting across Member States under the current method to allocate multinational enterprises’ profits. Such actions challenge a fair international taxation in the European Union, distorting European internal competition and hampering tax revenues collection. Although it may not be (yet) the time for a worldwide unitary taxation approach, the analysis performed highlights the urge for the European Union to overcome the United States political power and to unilaterally adopt the Formulary Apportionment approach, overhauling a century-old set of global tax rules based in the separate entity approach.
- The role of mild alkaline pretreatment in the biorefinery upgrade of spent Coffee groundsPublication . Ribeiro, Gabriel Mota; Martins, Pedro L.; Oliveira, Ana Cristina; Carvalheiro, Florbela; Fragoso, Rita; Duarte, Luís C.This work proposes a valorization route for spent coffee grounds (SCG), a widespread lignocellulosic residue, encompassing the production of: biomethane, lignin, and oligosaccharides as value-added products obtained simultaneously during a mild alkaline (NaOH) pretreatment. The studied operational variables were the reaction time (60–240 min), temperature (25–75 C), and the NaOH concentration (0–2.5 M). The severity factor suitably describes the global process kinetics, with higher severities (log Mo = 5.5) yielding high product yields, 18.02% and 13.25% (on dry SCG basis) for lignin and oligosaccharides (XGMOS), respectively. Solid yield is negatively impacted by all studied variables (at the 95% confidence level). Conversely, XGMOS yield is positively influenced both by time and catalyst concentration, whereas lignin yield is only (positively) influenced by catalyst concentration. Optimal balance between product formation and potential operational costs is putatively achieved when using 0.625 M NaOH, at 50 C for 60 min. The mild alkaline pretreated biomass (MAP-SCG) was compared to untreated SCG for biomethane production by anaerobic co-digestion with pig slurry (PS), using a ratio of biomass/PS = 1/3 (volatile solids (VS) basis). The proposed valorization route enabled the sequential production of 6.25 kg lignin, 6.36 kg oligosaccharides, and 138.05 kg biomethane per 100 kg of non-extracted SCG (and 287.60 kg pig slurry), in an integrated process that is technically feasible and promotes the circular bioeconomy.
- Effect of olive pomace extract application and packaging material on the preservation of fresh-cut Royal Gala applesPublication . Madureira, Joana; Melgar, Bruno; Delgado Alves, Vitor; Moldão, Margarida; Margaça, Fernanda M. A.; Santos-Buelga, Celestino; Barros, Lillian; Cabo Verde, SandraThe efficiency of natural olive pomace extracts for enhancing the quality of fresh-cut appleswas compared with commercial ascorbic acid and two different packaging films (biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) and oriented polypropylene (OPP)) were tested. The composition of atmosphere inside the packages, the physicochemical parameters (firmness, weight loss and color), the microbial load, total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of fresh-cut apples were evaluated throughout 12 days of storage at 4 C. After 12 days of refrigerated storage, a significant decrease in O2 was promoted in PLA films, and the weight loss of the whole packaging was higher in PLA films (5.4%) than in OPP films (0.2%). Natural olive pomace extracts reduced the load of mesophilic bacteria (3.4 0.1 log CFU/g and 2.4 0.1 log CFU/g for OPP and PLA films, respectively) and filamentous fungi (3.3 0.1 log CFU/g and 2.44 0.05 log CFU/g for OPP and PLA films, respectively) growth in fresh-cut apples after five days of storage at 4 C, and no detection of coliforms was verified throughout the 12 days of storage. In general, the olive pomace extract preserved or improved the total phenolic index and antioxidant potential of the fruit, without significant changes in their firmness. Moreover, this extract seemed to be more effective when combined with the biodegradable PLA film packaging. This work can contribute to the availability of effective natural food additives, the sustainability of the olive oil industries and the reduction of environmental impact. It can also be useful in meeting the food industries requirements to develop new functional food products.
- Government spending and tax revenue decentralization and public sector efficiency : do natural disasters matter?Publication . Afonso, António; Jalles, João Tovar; Venâncio, AnaWe assess notably how do extreme events affect the public sector efficiency of decentralized governance. Hence, we empirically link the public sector efficiency scores, to tax revenue and spending decentralization. First, we compute government spending efficiency scores via data envelopment analysis. Second, relying on panel data and impulse response approaches, we estimate the effect of decentralization on public sector efficiency and how extreme natural disasters mediate this relationship. The sample covers 36 OECD countries between 2006 and 2019. Our results show that tax revenue decentralization decreases public sector efficiency, while spending decentralization and a regional authority index are positively related to public sector efficiency, both for local projections and panel analysis. For instance, efficiency rises by 10 percent following a spending decentralization shock (reaching over 20 percent after 4 years). Nevertheless, in cases of natural disasters, spending decentralization reduces public sector efficiency. Specifically, in the presence of most extreme natural disasters, the improvement in public sector efficiency after a spending decentralization shock is smaller than in their absence. Moreover, extreme natural disasters also deteriorate the negative effect of tax revenue decentralization on public sector efficiency. These results suggest that sub-national discretionary spending and tax revenue responses might be less fruitful when such extreme events occur.
- How many Azores bullfinches (Pyrrhula murina) are there in the world? Case study of a threatened speciesPublication . Costa, Tarso de M. M.; Gil, Artur; Timóteo, Sergio; Ceia, Ricardo S.; Coelho, Rúben; Martin, Azucena de la CruzThe Azores bullfinch (Pyrrhula murina Godman, 1866) is a rare Passeriformes endemic from the eastern part of São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal. This bird was almost considered extinct in the first half of the 20th century, but due to recent conservation measures, it has experienced a recovery since the beginning of the 2000s. Despite the attention given to this bird, the size of its population is still controversial, and the most recent studies present significant divergences on this behalf. The purpose of the present study is to present data from the long-term monitoring and results of the third single-morning survey of the Azores bullfinch to update information about the population size and range of this species. In addition, we performed a literature review to highlight the limitations and advantages of the different approaches for monitoring this species. The Azores Bullfinch records during the single-morning survey indicated a reduction in the extent of occurrence and area of occupancy of this species in comparison with the previous studies, despite the increase in bird detection. However, we suggest that the distribution range of this species needs further analysis concerning its area to exclude non suitable habitats from this analysis. In this study, we conclude that the most likely size of the Azores bullfinch population is 500 to 800 couples, with a slow population growth tendency and an area of distribution of 136.5 km2.
- Interpretação dos acórdãos uniformizadores de jurisprudênciaPublication . Chinelato, João Marcelo Torres; Silva, Ana Paula Mota da Costa eEsta tese busca identificar elementos capazes de orientar a tarefa de decidir um caso concreto com fundamento em um acórdão uniformizador de jurisprudência. Segundo a legislação portuguesa, o Supremo Tribunal de Justiça previne ou elimina divergências na jurisprudência por meio desse tipo especial de decisão. A doutrina e o próprio Supremo Tribunal de Justiça reconhecem que, além dessa função, os acórdãos uniformizadores também servem como paradigmas decisórios para decisões futuras acerca de casos análogos, ou seja, tais acórdãos constituem, ou podem constituir, critérios para decidir. No estudo das decisões judiciais, a teoria jurídica se ocupa não apenas de descrever o fenômeno decisório, mas também de prescrever o modo como os juízes devem decidir. Nesse âmbito, muitos teóricos do Direito apontam a relevância dos precedentes para as tomadas de decisão futuras. De outro lado, é fato que as instituições jurídicas se estruturam para promover a uniformidade, a harmonia e a coerência na jurisprudência, sendo um reflexo desse eixo de preocupações o avanço dos estudos sobre a figura dos precedentes nos sistemas de direito escrito. O consenso que há nesses estudos é o de que, em um sentido bem específico, pode-se falar em precedentes no civil law. Para se compreender o sentido de um acórdão uniformizador de jurisprudência, deve-se visualizar essa decisão por uma perspectiva funcional, que leve em conta a sua finalidade. O estudo da interpretação das sentenças, dos contratos e das leis mostra que esses institutos jurídicos são interpretados de acordo com as suas finalidades específicas. Se os acórdãos uniformizadores têm uma função diversa, segue-se que a sua interpretação deve obedecer a critérios também diversos.