Detection of road accident accumulation zones with a visual analytics approach

Nowadays, road accidents are a major public health problem, which increase is forecasted if road safety is not treated properly, dying about 1.2 million people every year around the globe. In 2012, Portugal recorded 573 fatalities in road accidents, on site, revealing the largest decreasing of the European Union for 2011, along with Denmark. Beyond the impact caused by fatalities, it was calculated that the economic and social costs of road accidents weighted about 1.17% of the Portuguese gross domestic product in 2010. Visual Analytics allows the combination of data analysis techniques with interactive visualizations, which facilitates the process of knowledge discovery in sets of large and complex data, while the Geovisual Analytics facilitates the exploration of space-time data through maps with different variables and parameters that are under analysis. In Portugal, the identification of road accident accumulation zones, in this work named black spots, has been restricted to annual fixed windows. In this work, it is presented a dynamic approach based on Visual Analytics techniques that is able to identify the displacement of black spots on sliding windows of 12 months. Moreover, with the use of different parameterizations in the formula usually used to detect black spots, it is possible to identify zones that are almost becoming black spots. Through the proposed visualizations, the study and identification of countermeasures to this social and economic problem can gain new grounds and thus the decision- making process is supported and improved.

Biographical narratives in teaching: a study of rofessors on postgraduate courses

Literature and research have shown that professional development constitutes an essential dimension in constructing both work and professional identity. An important aspect in such development is training. In the field of adult education, different authors (Pratt, 1993; Mezirow, 1985; Schön, 1996; Silva, 2007) emphasize the importance of placing trainees at the center of the learning and cognitive processes and within their corresponding social and historical contexts. Training is supported by a comprehensive adult learning theory. Therefore, the acquired knowledge is not only the result of an external and objective reality but also of a complex construction in which the appropriation of experience plays a relevant role. This paper reveals the findings obtained through biographical narratives in a five-year work program with teachers at different levels (from pre-school to higher education) on postgraduate courses. The core issue is the importance of biographical narratives, as an identification strategy for personal experience, knowledge construction and professional identity. This strategy provided the opportunity for recognition of practical experience, as a provider of learning, as well as his/her own authorship, which are important conditions in the understanding of professional identity.

Arquitecturas imaginárias. Espaço real e ilusório no Barroco português

Tese de Doutoramento em Arquitectura / Cultura Arquitectónica.

O espaço do lazer infantil e as suas cores, formas e texturas

Given the high significance of playing on achildren's life, the existence of spaces for the same becomes essential. However, there are elements that should not be overlooked during its conception. In order for the space to become of the child, he must establish with it three relationships: with the space, with the objects in the room and with the other children. This article describes a part of the first empirical phase of an investigation. This phase of the project observed 14 children's play areas inserted in different environments, from the point of view of one of the main visual elements of design: colour. The aim is to understand which colours are the most used in the spaces and how the colour combination is performed. Thus, by crossing the observed colours and their meaning it is possible to determine what kind of space environments are intended to be created.

Melhoria de processos numa indústria têxtil através da aplicação do paradigma Lean

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia Industrial

Big data e data analysis: visualização de informação

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

Implementação de um sistema de previsão e controlo para operação otimizada de um sistema de recolha e armazenamento de água pluvial

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil

La carte postale et la représentation des espaces public et intime

La carte postale est un kaléidoscope de vues, d’ornements et de couleurs, qui consacre un tout petit espace au message. C’est à la photographie et aux procédés de reproduction photomécaniques que revient le mérite d’avoir industrialisé la production de la carte postale. Et ce sont les clichés de villes, avec leurs monuments et leurs paysages, qui confèrent à la carte postale son statut de moyen de communication de masse et qui lui concèdent une affinité avec l’industrie du tourisme. La carte postale s’est ainsi emparée de l’ambition photographique de reproduire le monde, s’alliant aux « besoins de l’exploration, des expéditions et des relevés topographiques » du médium photographique à ses débuts. Ayant comme point de départ la carte postale, notre objectif est de montrer les conséquences culturelles de la révolution optique, commencée au milieu du XIXe siècle, avec l’invention de l’appareil photo, et consumée dans la seconde moitié du XXe siècle, avec l’apparition de l’ordinateur. En effet, depuis l’apparition de l’appareil photographique et des cartes postales jusqu’au flux de pixels de Google Images et aux images satellite de Google Earth, un entrelacement de territoire, puissance et technique a été mis en oeuvre, la terre devenant, en conséquence, de plus en plus auscultée par les appareils de vision, ce qui impacte sur la perception de l’espace. Nous espérons pouvoir montrer avec cette étude que la lettre traditionnelle est à l’email ce que la carte postale est au post que l’on publie dans un blog ou dans des réseaux comme Facebook et Twitter. À notre sens, les cartes postales correspondent à l’ouverture maximale du système postal moderne, qui d’universel devient dépendant et partie intégrante des réseaux télématiques d’envoi. Par elles sont annoncés, en effet, la vitesse de transmission de l’information, la brièveté de la parole et l’hégémonie de la dimension imagétique du message, et pour finir, l’embarras provoqué par la fusion de l’espace public avec l’espace privé.

Aplicação de princípios e ferramentas lean numa unidade de cirurgia de ambulatório de um hospital

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Industrial

Caminhos vicinais de Santo Antão: marcas de ocupação humana num território montanhoso

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Arquitectura (área de especialização em Cidade e Território)