Analysis and selection of indicators for a sustainability assessment method for school buildings based on SBTool ‐ PT

Nowadays, the sustainability of buildings has an extreme importance. This concept goes towards the European aims of the Program Horizon 2020, which concerns about the reduction of the environmental impacts through such aspects as the energy efficiency and renewable technologies, among others. Sustainability is an extremely broad concept but, in this work, it is intended to include the concept of sustainability in buildings. Within the concept that aims the integration of environmental, social and economic levels towards the preservation of the planet and the integrity of the users, there are, currently, several types of tools of environmental certification that are applicable to the construction industry (LEED, BREEAM, DGNB, SBTool, among others). Within this context, it is highlighted the tool SBTool (Sustainable Building Tool) that is employed in several countries and can be subject to review in institutions of basic education, which are the base for the formation of the critical masses and for the development of a country. The main aim of this research is to select indicators that can be used in a methodology for sustainability assessment (SBTool) of school buildings in Portugal and in Brazil. In order to achieve it, it will also be analyzed other methodologies that already incorporate parameters directly related with the schools environment, such as BREEAM or LEED.

The Warburg effect in mycobacterial granulomas is dependent on the recruitment and activation of macrophages by interferon-γ

Granulomas are the hallmark of mycobacterial disease. Here, we demonstrate that both the cell recruitment and the increased glucose consumption in granulomatous infiltrates during Mycobacterium avium infection are highly dependent on interferon-y (IFN-y). Mycobacterium avium-infected mice lacking IFN-y signalling failed to developed significant inflammatory infiltrations and lacked the characteristic uptake of the glucose analogue fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). To assess the role of macrophages in glucose uptake we infected mice with a selective impairment of IFN-y signalling in the macrophage lineage (MIIG mice). Although only a partial reduction of the granulomatous areas was observed in infected MIIG mice, the insensitivity of macrophages to IFN-y reduced the accumulation of FDG. In vivo, ex vivo and in vitro assays showed that macrophage activated by IFN-y displayed increased rates of glucose uptake and in vitro studies showed also that they had increased lactate production and increased expression of key glycolytic enzymes. Overall, our results show that the activation of macrophages by IFN-y is responsible for the Warburg effect observed in organs infected with M. avium.

Debilidades e potencialidades da estrutura de recursos humanos nos cuidados continuados na Santa Casa da Misericórdia dos Arcos de Valdevez - Vilagerações

Dissertação de mestrado em Sociologia (área de especialização em Organizações e Trabalho)

Fine time scaling of purifying selection on human nonsynonymous mtDNA mutations based on the worldwide population tree and mother-child pairs

A high-resolution mtDNA phylogenetic tree allowed us to look backward in time to investigate purifying selection. Purifying selection was very strong in the last 2,500 years, continuously eliminating pathogenic mutations back until the end of the Younger Dryas (∼11,000 years ago), when a large population expansion likely relaxed selection pressure. This was preceded by a phase of stable selection until another relaxation occurred in the out-of-Africa migration. Demography and selection are closely related: expansions led to relaxation of selection and higher pathogenicity mutations significantly decreased the growth of descendants. The only detectible positive selection was the recurrence of highly pathogenic nonsynonymous mutations (m.3394T>C-m.3397A>G-m.3398T>C) at interior branches of the tree, preventing the formation of a dinucleotide STR (TATATA) in the MT-ND1 gene. At the most recent time scale in 124 mother-children transmissions, purifying selection was detectable through the loss of mtDNA variants with high predicted pathogenicity. A few haplogroup-defining sites were also heteroplasmic, agreeing with a significant propensity in 349 positions in the phylogenetic tree to revert back to the ancestral variant. This nonrandom mutation property explains the observation of heteroplasmic mutations at some haplogroup-defining sites in sequencing datasets, which may not indicate poor quality as has been claimed.

Ontology-based representation and generation of workflows for micro-task human-machine computation

Doctoral Program in Computer Science

As potencialidades pedagógicas da WebQuest no ensino e aprendizagem da Geologia: um estudo com alunos do 11.º ano no tema "Principais etapas de formação das rochas sedimentares"

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Ensino de Biologia e Geologia no 3.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico e no Ensino Secundário

Plataforma para suporte ao ciclo de vida de organizações virtuais e seleção dinâmica de parceiros e fornecedores

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia Industrial e de Sistemas

Poly-N-acetyl glucosamine expression in Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm cells affects the immune response and promotes tissue pathology in infected hosts

Staphylococcus epidermidis is a biofilm - forming bacterium and a leading etiological agent of nosocomial infections. The ability to establish biofilms on indwelling medical devices is a key virulence factor for this bacterium. Still, the influence of poly - N - acetyl glucosamine (PNAG), the major component of the extracellular biofilm matrix, in the host immune response has been scarcely studied. Here, t h is influence was assessed in mice challenged i.p. with PNAG - p roducing (WT) and isogenic - mutant lacking PNAG (M10) bacteria grown in biofilm - inducing conditions. Faster bacterial clearance was observed in the mice infected with WT bacteria than in M10 - infected counterparts , which w as accompanied by earlier neutrophil recruitment and higher IL - 6 production. Interestingly, in the WT - infected mice, but not in those infected with M10 , elevated serum IL - 10 was detected . To further study the effe ct of PNAG in the immune response, mice were primed with WT or M10 biofilm bacteria and subsequently infected with WT biofilm - released cells. WT - primed mice presented a higher frequency of splenic IFN - γ + and IL - 17 + CD4 + T cells, and more severe liver patho logy than M10 - primed counterparts. Nevertheless, T reg cells obtained from the WT - primed mice presented a higher suppressive function than those obtained from M10 - primed mice. This effect was abrogated when IL - 10 - deficient mice were similarly primed and infected indicating that PNAG promotes the differentiati on of highly suppressive T reg cells by a mechanism dependent on IL - 10. Altogether, these results provide evidence help ing explain ing the coexistence of inflammation and bacterial persistence often observed in biofilm - originated S. epidermidis infections

Myopia control with a novel peripheral gradient soft lens and orthokeratology: a 2-year clinical trial

Objective. To evaluate the degree of axial elongation with soft radial refractive gradient (SRRG) contact lenses, orthokeratology (OK), and single vision (SV) spectacle lenses (control) during a period of 1 year before treatment and 2 years after treatment. Methods. This was a prospective, longitudinal, nonrandomized study. The study groups consisted of 30, 29, and 41 children, respectively. The axial length (AL) was measured during 2 years after recruitment and lens fitting. Results. The baseline refractive sphere was correlated significantly (r 2 = 0.542; P < 0.0001) with the amount of myopia progression before baseline. After 2 years, the mean myopia progression values for the SRRG, OK, and SV groups were −0.56 ± 0.51, −0.32 ± 0.53, and −0.98 ± 0.58 diopter, respectively. The results represent reductions in myopic progression of 43% and 67% for the SRRG and OK groups, respectively, compared to the SV group. The AL increased more in the SV group compared to the SRRG and OK groups, with 27% and 38% lower axial elongation, respectively, compared to the SV group at the 2-year visit (P < 0.05). SRRG and OK showed no differences (P = 0.430). Conclusion. The SRRG lens significantly decreased AL elongation compared to the SV control group. The SRRG lens was similarly effective to OK in preventing myopia progression in myopic children and adolescent.

Estudo, projeto e desenvolvimento de uma máquina para montar e vincar sacos de papel

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Mecânica

Corporate Performance Management através da integração de Business Intelligence e Business Process Management

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

Listening to the public: enacting power : citizen access, Standing and influence in public participation discourses

Public participation in environmental governance is typically associated with citizen access to power despite many closures and limitations having been identified in participatory processes. This article proposes an analytical framework to analyse discursive practices involved in public consultation processes. Critical Discourse Analysis is used to examine and appraise citizens’ access, standing and influence. We apply that framework to a ‘notice and comment’ process on a hydroelectric power plan in Portugal and show that it was discursively managed to justify the decision of constructing 10 large dams and to reject critical or alternative views. Citizens’ access, standing and influence were constrained through diverse discursive practices which (re)produced very unequal power relationsbetween policy proponents and participating individuals. More generally, the article illustrates the potential of Critical Discourse Analysis to assess voice(s) in policy processes. Focusing on argumentative, interactional and rhetorical levels, and how they are interwoven in public consultation discourses, the proposed framework is conceivably applicable in other studies.

As crianças-soldado na Serra Leoa e na Libéria: estudo comparado sobre o papel da ONU como provedor de segurança humana

Dissertação de mestrado em Relações Internacionais