Politically driven cycles in fiscal policy: in depth analysis of the functional components of government expenditures

NIPE - WP 02/2016

Seguros Income Protection: análise segundo o sexo e a classe profissional dos segurados

Dissertação de mestrado em Economia Monetária, Bancária e Financeira

Establishing guidelines for obtaining optimal cell sources to use in tendon tissue engineering strategies

Cell-based approaches in tissue engineering (TE) have been barely explored for the treatment of tendon and ligament (T/L) tissues, requiring the establishment of a widely available cell source with tenogenic potential. As T/L cells are scarce, stem cells may provide a good alternative. Understanding how resident cells behave in vitro, might be useful for recapitulating the tenogenic potential of stem cells for tendon TE applications. Therefore, we propose to isolate and characterize human T/L-derived cells (hTDCs and hLDCs) and compare their regenerative potential with stem cells from adipose tissue (hASCs) and amniotic fluid (hAFSCs)(1). T/L cells were isolated using different procedures and stem cells isolated as described elsewhere(1). Moreover, T/L cells were stimu- lated into the three mesenchymal lineages, using standard differentia- tion media. Cells were characterized for the typical stem cell markers as well as T/L related markers, namely tenascin-C, collagen I and III, decorin and scleraxis, using different complementary techniques such as real time RT-PCR, immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry. No differences were observed between T/L in gene expression and protein deposition. T/L cells were mostly positive for stem ness markers (CD73/CD90/CD105), and have the potential to differentiate towards osteogenesis, chondrogenesis and adipogenesis, demonstrated by the positive staining for AlizarinRed, SafraninO, ToluidineBlue and OilRed. hASCs and hAFSCs exhibit positive expression of all tenogenic mark- ers, although at lower levels than hTDCs and hLDCs. Nevertheless, stem cells availability is key factor in TE strategies, despite that it’s still required optimization to direct their tenogenic phenotype.

Environment, health and safety policy in small construction sites: an analysis of the situation in Brazil

This paper analyzes the safety, environmental and occupational health of workers in the small construction industry in Brazil. In this sector there are still many unsafe practices, which are very common in small work sites. We used a qualitative approach to understand these problems by long interviews with people who work directly in small construction sites, including occupational physicians, civil engineers, safety engineers, safety technicians, general foremen, construction workers, labor unionists and auditors. This paper aims to demonstrate that the "invisibility" of the small sites workers makes them less safe and therefore more prone to accidents, also weakening their health. The results show that small constructions workers are less visible to society and supervision because of their short periods of work. Therefore, they are also uncovered to the rigorous applicability of principles of safety and accident prevention. Thus, it has been seen in this field of work a precarious application of NR - 18, which was specifically made for the construction sites and it needs simplification to meet normative characteristics of small construction sites. In the State of Rio de Janeiro, some laws on small sites were recently created and implemented. This study concludes that the rules to work are not being taken as seriously as the legislation determinates, remaining practically unknown by many professionals, from the plot command, supervisors, engineers, architects and technicians who work on construction sites. This ignorance creates space for the lack of safety and consequently to accidents, leading to by weakness in the workers health. Therefore, the work process needs to be modified, the safety regulation must be disseminated through safer practices, promoting employee health and ensure that the work of small sites can be visible, especially ensuring the construction workers health and safety.

Contribution of the evaluation strategy and the use of hearing protection for the uncertainty associated with occupational exposure to noise

Doctoral Thesis for PhD degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering

In silico constraint-based strain optimization methods: the quest for optimal cell factories

Shifting from chemical to biotechnological processes is one of the cornerstones of 21st century industry. The production of a great range of chemicals via biotechnological means is a key challenge on the way toward a bio-based economy. However, this shift is occurring at a pace slower than initially expected. The development of efficient cell factories that allow for competitive production yields is of paramount importance for this leap to happen. Constraint-based models of metabolism, together with in silico strain design algorithms, promise to reveal insights into the best genetic design strategies, a step further toward achieving that goal. In this work, a thorough analysis of the main in silico constraint-based strain design strategies and algorithms is presented, their application in real-world case studies is analyzed, and a path for the future is discussed.

Photolabile protection for amino acids: studies on the release from novel benzoquinolone cages

The synthesis of a novel fused nitrogen heterocycle, benzoquinolone, for evaluation as a photocleavable protecting group is described for the first time, by coupling to model amino acids (alanine, phenylalanine and glutamic acid). Conversion of the phenylalanine ester conjugate to the thionated derivative was accomplished by reaction with Lawesson’s reagent. Photocleavage studies of the carbonyl and thiocarbonyl benzoquinolone conjugates in various solvents and at different wavelengths (300, 350 and 419 nm) showed that the most interesting result was obtained at 419 nm for the thioconjugate, revealing that the presence of the thiocarbonyl group clearly improved the photolysis rates, giving practicable irradiations times for the release of the amino acids (less than 1 minute).

Cost optimal strategies for the renovation of residential neighbourhoods towards energy and emissions neutrality – Rainha Dona Leonor case study

Buildings are one of the major consumers of energy in Europe. This makes them an important target when aiming to reduce the energy consumptions and carbon emissions. The majority of the European building stock has already some decades and so it needs renovation in order to keep its functionality. Taking advantage of these interventions, the energy performance of the buildings may also be improved. In Portugal the renovation techniques, both regarding energy efficiency measures as well as measures for the use of renewable energy sources, are normally planned at the building scale. It is important to explore the possibility of having large scale interventions, has it has been done in other countries, namely at neighbourhood scale with district energy system in order to optimize the results in terms of costs and environmental impact.

Organização e gestão da manutencão de ferramentas numa empresa de produção de peças metálicas

Dissertação de mestrado Engenharia e Gestão da Qualidade

Cohesion policy in the European Union: a brief critical review

Over the past four decades the EU cohesion policy’s focus, objectives and content have experienced significant changes as a result of successive reforms aiming at adapting it to a Union in constant evolution. In the early stages, cohesion policy had eminently redistributive goals and it assumed an explicit spatial dimension. In the late nineties, the possibility of an extension towards Eastern European countries and the limited willingness of net contributors to increase funding led to a turning point in cohesion policy. The increased importance of economic growth and job creation in the 2000’s, within the cohesion policy’s context, has led to a misrepresentation of its essence and motivations. Cohesion was losing importance towards competitiveness and regional equity towards national efficiency. Today, cohesion policy is for many EU countries the main mean for mobilising investment in a context of budgetary constraints and credit rationing. In light of the available evidence, it is likely that the overall design and priorities of the current cohesion policy have a limited impact in terms of convergence in many EU regions, especially in the less developed regions. This paper’s main objectives are to analyse the evolution of European cohesion policy throughout its history, to present a picture of cohesion policy in the 2014-2020 programming period and to discuss the main problems associated with its design, priorities and programming model.

Seguros Income Protection com um período máximo de recebimento de benefícios

Dissertação de mestrado em Economia Monetária, Bancária e Financeira

Organic-inorganic hybrid sol-gelcoatings for metal corrosion protection: a review of recent progress

This paper is a review of the most recent and relevant achievements (from 2001 to 2013) on the development of organic–inorganic hybrid (OIH) coatings produced by sol–gel-derivedmethods to improve resistance to oxidation/corrosion of different metallic substrates and their alloys. This review is focused on the research of OIH coatings based on siloxanes using the sol–gel process conducted at an academic level and aims to summarize the materials developed and identify perspectives for further research. The fundamentals of sol–gel are described, including OIH classification, the interaction with the substrate, their advantages, and limitations. The main precursors used in the synthesis ofOIHsol–gel coatings for corrosion protection are also discussed, according to the metallic substrate used. Finally, a multilayer system to improve the resistance to corrosion is proposed, based on OIH coatings produced by the sol–gel process, and the future research challenges are debated.

Hot-dip galvanized steel dip-coatedwith ureasilicate hybrid in simulated concrete pore solution: Assessment of coating morphology and corrosion protection efficiency

The barrier effect and the performance of an organic–inorganic hybrid (OIH) sol–gel coating are highlydependent on the coating deposition method as well as processing conditions. In this work, studies onthe influence of experimental parameters using the dip coating method were performed. Factors suchas residence time (Rt), a curing step between each dip step and the number of layers of sol–gel OIHfilms deposited on HDGS to prevent corrosion in highly alkaline environments were studied. These OIHcoatings were obtained using a functionalized siloxane, 3-isociantepropyltriethoxysilane that reactedwith a diamino-functionalized oligopolymer (Jeffamine®D-230). The barrier efficiency of OIH coatings insimulated concrete pore solutions (SCPS) was assessed in the first moments of contact, by electrochemicalimpedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic methods. The durability and stability of the OIH coatings inSCPS was monitored during eight days by macrocell current density. The morphological characterizationof the surface was performed by scanning electronic microscopy before and after exposure to SCPS.Glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy was used to obtain quantitative composition profiles toinvestigate the thickness of the OIH coatings as a function of the number of layers deposited and theinfluence of the Rt in the coating thickness.

Ureasilicate hybrid coatings for corrosion protection of galvanized steel in chloride-contaminated simulated concrete pore solution

Organic-inorganic hybrid (OIH) sol-gel coatings based on ureasilicates (U(X)) have promising properties for use as eco-friendly coatings on hot dip galvanized steel (HDGS) and may be considered potential substitutes for pre-treatment systems containing Cr(VI). These OIH coatings reduce corrosion activity during the initial stages of contact of the HDGS samples with highly alkaline environments (cementitious media) and allow the mitigation of harmful effects of an initial excessive reaction between cement pastes and the zinc layer. However, the behavior of HDGS coated with U(X) in the presence of chloride ions has never been reported. In this paper, the performance of HDGS coated with five different U(X) coatings was assessed by electrochemical measurements in chloride-contaminated simulated concrete pore solution (SCPS). U(X) sol-gel coatings were produced and deposited on HDGS by a dip coating method. The coatings performance was evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, potentiodynamic polarization curves measurements, macrocell current density and polarization resistance in contact with chloride-contaminated SCPS. The SEM/EDS analyses of the coatings before and after the tests were also performed. The results showed that the HDGS samples coated with the OIH coatings exhibited enhanced corrosion resistance to chloride ions when compared to uncoated galvanized steel.

Erratum: Ureasilicate hybrid coatings for corrosion protection of galvanized steel in cementitious media

Artigo completo publicado na revista "Journal of The Electrochemical Society" 160:10 (2013) 467-479 e disponível no RepositóriUM em: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/33855