Development of innovative hybrid sandwich panel slabs: Experimental results

The authors appreciate the collaboration of the following labs: Civitest for developing DHCC materials, PIEP for conducting VARTM process (Eng. Luis Oliveira) and Department of Civil Engineering of Minho University to perform the tests (Mr. Antonio Matos and Eng. Marco Jorge).

Experimental analysis of new interfaces for connections by adhesion, interlocking and friction.

The authors thank the federal agency CAPES and the Foundation for Research Support of the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil (FAPESP) for providing a PhD scholarship, and the University of Minho, in Portugal, for the international collaboration.

A mechanical analysis of asphalt recycled mixtures produced with high recycling rates

In this work four asphalt mixtures were compared in terms of mechanical characteristics. One of the mixtures (control mixture) was used as a reference to the study of three mixtures produced with reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). One of the recycled mixtures incorporated 30% of RAP and the other two were produced with 50% of RAP. The effect of using a rejuvenator additive (3% rejuvenator) was also evaluated in one of the mixtures with 50% of RAP.

Práticas centradas na família: um estudo de caso do Centro de Educación Infantil y de Atención Temprana da Universidade Católica de Valência

Dissertação de mestrado em Educação Especial (área de especialização em Intervenção Precoce)

Changes in institutional governance and management of higher education in Laos: National University of Laos

PhD thesis in Educational Sciences (specialization in Politics of Education).

Measuring university-to-work success: development of a new scale

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a subjective multidimensional measure of early career success during university-to-work transition. Design/methodology/approach – The construct of university-to-work success (UWS) was defined in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic career outcomes, and a three-stage study was conducted to create a new scale. Findings – A preliminary set of items was developed and tested by judges. Results showed the items had good content validity. Factor analyses indicated a four-factor structure and a second-order model with subscales to assess: career insertion and satisfaction, confidence in career future, income and financial independence, and adaptation to work. Third, the authors sought to confirm the hypothesized model examining the comparative fit of the scale and two alternative models. Results showed that fits for both the first- and second-order models were acceptable. Research limitations/implications – The proposed model has sound psychometric qualities, although the validated version of the scale was not able to incorporate all constructs envisaged by the initial theoretical model. Results indicated some direction for further refinement. Practical implications – The scale could be used as a tool for self-assessment or as an outcome measure to assess the efficacy of university-to-work programs in applied settings. Originality/value – This study provides a useful single measure to assess early career success during the university-to-work transition, and might facilitate testing of causal models which could help identify factors relevant for successful transition.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis causing tuberculous lymphadenitis in Maputo, Mozambique

BACKGROUND: The zoonosis bovine tuberculosis (TB) is known to be responsible for a considerable proportion of extrapulmonary TB. In Mozambique, bovine TB is a recognised problem in cattle, but little has been done to evaluate how Mycobacterium bovis has contributed to human TB. We here explore the public health risk for bovine TB in Maputo, by characterizing the isolates from tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBLN) cases, a common manifestation of bovine TB in humans, in the Pathology Service of Maputo Central Hospital, in Mozambique, during one year. RESULTS: Among 110 patients suspected of having TBLN, 49 had a positive culture result. Of those, 48 (98 %) were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and one for nontuberculous mycobacteria. Of the 45 isolates analysed by spoligotyping and Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Unit - Variable Number Tandem Repeat (MIRU-VNTR), all were M. tuberculosis. No M. bovis was found. Cervical TBLN, corresponding to 39 (86.7 %) cases, was the main cause of TBLN and 66.7 % of those where from HIV positive patients. We found that TBLN in Maputo was caused by a variety of M. tuberculosis strains. The most prevalent lineage was the EAI (n?=?19; 43.2 %). Particular common spoligotypes were SIT 48 (EAI1_SOM sublineage), SIT 42 (LAM 9), SIT 1 (Beijing) and SIT53 (T1), similar to findings among pulmonary cases. CONCLUSIONS: M. tuberculosis was the main etiological agent of TBLN in Maputo. M. tuberculosis genotypes were similar to the ones causing pulmonary TB, suggesting that in Maputo, cases of TBLN arise from the same source as pulmonary TB, rather than from an external zoonotic source. Further research is needed on other forms of extrapulmonary TB and in rural areas where there is high prevalence of bovine TB in cattle, to evaluate the risk of transmission of M. bovis from cattle to humans.

Firm innovation and co-location in Portugal

This paper investigates the geographical distribution and concentration of firms’ innovation persistence and innovation type (product and process) based on three waves of the Portuguese Community Innovation Survey data covering the period 1998–2006. The main findings are: 1) both innovation persistence and innovation type are asymmetrically distributed across Portuguese regions, 2) the degree of correlation between geographical location and innovative output varies with the innovation type, and 3) the correlation between geographical unit and innovation increases when the spatial unit of analysis is narrower. The results suggest that the firms’ choices of geographical location have a long-lasting effect, engendering no equal probabilities of being persistently innovative.

On the length of bank-firm relationships: an empirical application to a major French bank

NIPE - WP 01/ 2016

Apoio à decisão na análise inteligente de reclamações

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão de Sistemas de Informação

The role of marine anaerobic bacteria and archaea in bioenergy production

The development of products from marine bioresources is gaining importance in the biotechnology sector. The global market for Marine Biotechnology products and processes was, in 2010, estimated at 2.8 billion with a cumulative annual growth rate of 510% (Børresen et al., Marine biotechnology: a new vision and strategy for Europe. Marine Board Position Paper 15. Beernem: Marine Board-ESF, 2010). Marine Biotechnology has the potential to make significant contributions towards the sustainable supply of food and energy, the solution of climate change and environmental degradation issues, and the human health. Besides the creation of jobs and wealth, it will contribute to the development of a greener economy. Thus, huge expectations anticipate the global development of marine biotechnology. The marine environment represents more than 70% of the Earths surface and includes the largest ranges of temperature, light and pressure encountered by life. These diverse marine environments still remain largely unexplored, in comparison with terrestrial habitats. Notwithstanding, efforts are being done by the scientific community to widespread the knowledge on oceans microbial life. For example, the J. Craig Venter Institute, in collaboration with the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and Scripps Institution of Oceanography have built a state-of-the-art computational resource along with software tools to catalogue and interpret microbial life in the worlds oceans. The potential application of the marine biotechnology in the bioenergy sector is wide and, certainly, will evolve far beyond the current interest in marine algae. This chapter revises the current knowledge on marine anaerobic bacteria and archaea with a role in bio-hydrogen production, syngas fermentation and bio-electrochemical processes, three examples of bioenergy production routes.

Integração no laboratório da Lameirinho e controlo aos tecidos acabados

Dissertação de mestrado em Técnicas de Caraterização e Análise Química

Vermiculite bio-barriers for Cu and Zn remediation: an eco-friendly approach for freshwater and sediments protection

The increase in heavy metal contamination in freshwater systems causes serious environmental problems in most industrialized countries, and the effort to find ecofriendly techniques for reducing water and sediment contamination is fundamental for environmental protection. Permeable barriers made of natural clays can be used as low-cost and eco-friendly materials for adsorbing heavy metals from water solution and thus reducing the sediment contamination. This study discusses the application of permeable barriers made of vermiculite clay for heavy metals remediation at the interface between water and sediments and investigates the possibility to increase their efficiency by loading the vermiculite surface with a microbial biofilm of Pseudomonas putida, which is well known to be a heavy metal accumulator. Some batch assays were performed to verify the uptake capacity of two systems and their adsorption kinetics, and the results indicated that the vermiculite bio-barrier system had a higher removal capacity than the vermiculite barrier (?34.4 and 22.8 % for Cu and Zn, respectively). Moreover, the presence of P. putida biofilm strongly contributed to fasten the kinetics of metals adsorption onto vermiculite sheets. In open-system conditions, the presence of a vermiculite barrier at the interface between water and sediment could reduce the sediment contamination up to 20 and 23 % for Cu and Zn, respectively, highlighting the efficiency of these eco-friendly materials for environmental applications. Nevertheless, the contribution of microbial biofilm in open-system setup should be optimized, and some important considerations about biofilm attachment in a continuous-flow system have been discussed.

Produção de um curso online: contributo para a comunicação entre técnico e professor

Dissertação de mestrado em Ciências da Educação (área de especialização em Tecnologia Educativa)