The influence of fibre orientation on the post-cracking tensile behaviour of steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete

Adding fibres to concrete provides several advantages, especially in terms of controlling the crack opening width and propagation after the cracking onset. However, distribution and orientation of the fibres toward the active crack plane are significantly important in order to maximize its benefits. Therefore, in this study, the effect of the fibre distribution and orientation on the post-cracking tensile behaviour of the steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC) specimens is investigated. For this purpose, several cores were extracted from distinct locations of a panel and were subjected to indirect (splitting) and direct tensile tests. The local stress-crack opening relationship (σ-w) was obtained by modelling the splitting tensile test under the finite element framework and by performing an Inverse Analysis (IA) procedure. Afterwards the σ-w law obtained from IA is then compared with the one ascertained directly from the uniaxial tensile tests. Finally, the fibre distribution/orientation parameters were determined adopting an image analysis technique.

Attachment orientation and caretaking memories in fathers during the transition to parenthood

Dissertação de mestrado em Psicologia Aplicada

Conceções éticas de estudantes universitários portugueses sobre as sentenças penais: reabilitar ou retribuir?

A presente investigação tem como objetivo analisar as perceções dos estudantes universitários portugueses sobre as finalidades das sentenças penais tendo subjacentes as Teorias Absolutas e das Teorias Relativas. Pretendeu-se avaliar que objetivos de sentença são mais apoiados entre os estudantes e perceber se existem outras variáveis como preditores significativos, tais como, género, orientação politica, religião, curso e experiência prévia de vitimação. Uma amostra de 344 estudantes universitários, a frequentar os cursos de Ciências Sociais (40,8%), Engenharia (34,9%) e Direito (24,3%), com idades compreendidas entre os 17 e os 48 anos, selecionada por conveniência, preencheu o instrumento de 20 itens adaptado de Cullen, Cullen, e Wozniak. Os resultados apontam para a estabilidade da estrutura dimensional do instrumento adaptado, definido por 2 fatores e 16 itens: o fator punição e o fator reabilitação. O fator mais apoiado entre os participantes foi o de reabilitação o que contraria que a opinião pública a respeito da sentença é mais influenciada pelo retribucionismo. Os participantes apoiam várias finalidades da sentença. Não foram encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significativas em função da orientação política, da religião e da experiência de vitimização. Contudo, diferenças estatisticamente significativas foram encontradas para o sexo dos participantes e para o curso.

On the routines of wild-type silk fibroin processing toward silk-inspired materials: a review

For years, silk fibroin of a domestic silkworm, Bombyx mori, has been recognized as a valuable material and extensively used. In the last decades, new application fields are emerging for this versatile material. Those final, specific applications of silk dictate the way it has been processed in industry and research. This review focuses on the description of various approaches for silk downstream processing in a laboratory scale, that fall within several categories. The detailed description of workflow possibilities from the naturally found material to a finally formulated product is presented. Considerable attention is given to (bio-) chemical approaches of silk fibroin transformation, particularly, to its enzyme-driven modifications. The focus of the current literature survey is exclusively on the methods applied in research and not industry.

Racionalização e redução de custos das TIC na Administração Pública: o caso da PSP

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

Os técnicos superiores de reeducação e o trabalho prisional

Dissertação de mestrado em Crime, Diferença e Desigualdade

Avaliação na educação pré-escolar: perspetivas e práticas

Dissertação de mestrado em Ciências da Educação (área de especialização em Desenvolvimento Curricular e Inovação Educativa)

Interpersonal and attitudinal factors in women's work role: Cross-cultural comparison

The last four decades have seen a dramatic increase in the number of women entering employment. This is particularly true in Europe and although more European women are working outside the home, the patterns of female employment have changed very little. An analysis of these patterns is presented. It was found that women continue to dominate specific fields, particularly teaching and service providing. An investigation of the interpersonal behavior differences among 117 American women from the southeastern United States in three work roles--homemakers, women in traditional occupations, and in nontraditional occupations--was conducted and the sex-role orientation, attitudes toward success, and demographic indicators were examined in order to consider the interplay of these variables with female occupational role and interpersonal behavior. A second focus of the study is on the cross-cultural comparison of the psychological and work variables in women of two different cultures: America and Portugal. Thirty-one Portuguese women were a preliminary comparison sample. The American results showed significant differences between groups in self-perceived interpersonal behaviors and the findings contradicted current stereotypes. The cross-cultural data, although preliminary, indicates differences between the countries in social desirability, aggressive and assertive behaviors, and in sex-role attitudes, which seem to reflect the different stages of economic development. (MKA)

Pervasive decision support to predict football corners and goals by means of data mining

Football is considered nowadays one of the most popular sports. In the betting world, it has acquired an outstanding position, which moves millions of euros during the period of a single football match. The lack of profitability of football betting users has been stressed as a problem. This lack gave origin to this research proposal, which it is going to analyse the possibility of existing a way to support the users to increase their profits on their bets. Data mining models were induced with the purpose of supporting the gamblers to increase their profits in the medium/long term. Being conscience that the models can fail, the results achieved by four of the seven targets in the models are encouraging and suggest that the system can help to increase the profits. All defined targets have two possible classes to predict, for example, if there are more or less than 7.5 corners in a single game. The data mining models of the targets, more or less than 7.5 corners, 8.5 corners, 1.5 goals and 3.5 goals achieved the pre-defined thresholds. The models were implemented in a prototype, which it is a pervasive decision support system. This system was developed with the purpose to be an interface for any user, both for an expert user as to a user who has no knowledge in football games.