The importance of the category of consciousness and education for sustainability in methodologies for eco‐efficiency in school buildings

This document reports the importance of the category of consciousness and education for sustainability in the school environment. Education in school has a potential to make the benefits of the building construction visible for society and media, showing to the students, parents and communities how sustainability in built environment could improve the people life in economic, social and environment aspects. Thus, this paper addresses the main events related to sustainability, such as the Stockholm Conference, the Brundtland report, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and Agenda 21, until reaching the necessity of the elaboration of Methodologies for environmental assessment of building, and later, the development of the specific methodologies according to the buildings. It is also described some examples of sustainability in schools in Germany, Finland and Italy and what kind of sustainable systems those countries are currently using.

The importance of risk assessment in the context of investment project management: a case study

Risk management is an important component of project management. Nevertheless, such process begins with risk assessment and evaluation. In this research project, a detailed analysis of the methodologies used to treat risks in investment projects adopted by the Banco da Amazonia S.A. was made. Investment projects submitted to the FNO (Constitutional Fund for Financing the North) during 2011 and 2012 were considered for that purpose. It was found that the evaluators of this credit institution use multiple indicators for risk assessment which assume a central role in terms of decision-making and contribute for the approval or the rejection of the submitted projects; namely, the proven ability to pay, the financial records of project promotors, several financial restrictions, level of equity, level of financial indebtedness, evidence of the existence of a consumer market, the proven experience of the partners/owners in the business, environmental aspects, etc. Furthermore, the bank has technological systems to support the risk assessment process, an internal communication system and a unique system for the management of operational risk.

Determination of the importance of iron acquisition for Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm survival in human blood

Dissertação de mestrado em Bioengenharia

The role of social cognition and motor imagery in gesture processing: a patients' study

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia

Students’ perceptions of competencies by the end of a masters’ degree

Os modelos atuais de empregabilidade, abrangentes e complexos, incluem não apenas o conjunto de competências técnicas e transversais necessárias à integração no mercado de trabalho, mas consideram também uma componente subjetiva que integra as crenças e atitudes individuais. Apresentam-se os resultados preliminares de um estudo centrado nas perceções de competências e preparação para o mercado de trabalho, realizado com 214 alunos, finalistas de mestrado. Os resultados obtidos apontam para uma elevada correlação entre competências práticas, competências de empregabilidade, preparação e expectativas de sucesso na transição para o trabalho. Realça-se ainda a importância da integração de uma componente prática nos currículos educativos.

Adolescent parents’ values: the role played by retrospective perceptions of the family-of-origin

Family-of-origin is an important system in individual’s lives, and its influence is extensive over the life cycle. The aim of this study was to investigate, in a sample of adolescents’ parents, whether their retrospective perceptions of parenting and relationship qualities within their families-of-origin during adolescence predicted their current collectivist and individualist values. Participants included 110 Portuguese adults with a mean age of 46.86 years old. The results of structural equation modeling supported that retrospective perceptions of parenting and relationship qualities in the family-of-origin predicted the adults’ collectivist values but not their individualist values. This study highlights the importance of retrospective perceptions of supporting and non-rejecting parenting for value acquisition. The results also suggest that values that preserve and protect family connections and collaborations are more likely to be socialized by families. Implications for practice and for the theories on parenting, values, family-of-origin influences and family intergenerational transmission are discussed.

Systems biology approaches for the design of novel Saccharomyces cerevisiae winemaking strains for enhanced flavour compounds synthesis

Tese de Doutoramento em Biologia Ambiental e Molecular

Current approaches and future perspectives on strategies for the development of personalized tissue engineering therapies

Personalized tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) therapies propose patient-oriented effective solutions, considering individual needs. Cell-based therapies, for example, may benefit from cell sources that enable easier autologous set-ups or from recent developments on IPS cells technologies towards effective personalized therapeutics. Furthermore, the customization of scaffold materials to perfectly fit a patientâ s tissue defect through rapid prototyping technologies, also known as 3D printing, is now a reality. Nevertheless, the timing to expand cells or to obtain functional in vitrotissue substitutes prior to implantation prevents advancements towards routine use upon patient´s needs. Thus, personalized therapies also anticipate the importance of creating off-the-shelf solutions to enable immediately available tissue engineered products. This paper reviews the main recent developments and future challenges to enable personalized TERM approaches and to bring these technologies closer to clinical applications.

Designation of natural monuments by the local administration: the example of Viana do Castelo municipality and its engagement with geoconservation (NW Portugal)

"First online: 11 April 2016"