Aplicação do Building Information Modeling na gestão de projetos de construção

Dissertação de mestrado em Construção e Reabilitação Sustentáveis

7to77, A new database querying experience

Nowadays, the vulgarization of information and communication technologies has reached to a level that the majority of people spend a lot of time using software to do regular tasks, ranging from games and ordinary time and weather utilities to some more sophisticated ones, like retail or banking applications. This new way of life is supported by the Internet or by specific applications that changed the image people had about using information and communication technologies. All over the world, the first cycle of studies of educational systems also has been addressed with the justification that this encourages the development of children. Taking this into consideration, we design and develop a visual explorer system for relational databases that can be used by everyone, from “7 to 77”, in an intuitive and easy way, getting immediate results – a new database querying experience. Thus, in this paper we will expose the main characteristics and features of this visual database explorer, showing how it works and how it can be used to execute the most current data manipulation operations over a database.

Modeling microbes: New methods for integrated metabolic and regulatory network reconstruction

PhD Thesis in Bioengineering

Avaliação de políticas públicas de desenvolvimento turístico das cidades de Gramado (Brasil) e Rovaniemi (Finlândia)

Tese de Doutoramento Geografia (Área de Especialização: Geografia e Planeamento Regional)

A relational algebra approach to ETL modeling

The MAP-i Doctoral Programme in Informatics, of the Universities of Minho, Aveiro and Porto

High strain rate constitutive modeling forhistorical structures subjected to blast loading

Doctoral Thesis Civil Engineering

Fused deposition modeling with polypropylene

This paper addresses the potential of polypropylene (PP) as a candidate for fused deposition modeling (FDM)-based 3D printing technique. The entire filament production chain is evaluated, starting with the PP pellets, filament production by extrusion and test samples printing. This strategy enables a true comparison between parts printed with parts manufactured by compression molding, using the same grade of raw material. Printed samples were mechanically characterized and the influence of filament orientation, layer thickness, infill degree and material was assessed. Regarding the latter, two grades of PP were evaluated: a glass-fiber reinforced and a neat, non-reinforced, one. The results showed the potential of the FDM to compete with conventional techniques, especially for the production of small series of parts/components; also, it was showed that this technique allows the production of parts with adequate mechanical performance and, therefore, does not need to be restricted to the production of mockups and prototypes.

[Editorial] Current challenges in modeling cellular metabolism

The authors would like to thank the financial support from the NovoNordiskFoundation.

Modeling separator membranes physical characteristics for optimized lithium ion battery performance

The effect of varying separator membrane physical parameters such as degree of porosity, tortuosity and thickness, on battery delivered capacity was studied in order to optimize performance of lithium-ion batteries. This was achieved by a theoretical mathematical model relating the Bruggeman coefficient with the degree of porosity and tortuosity. The inclusion of the separator membrane in the simulation model of the battery system does not affect the delivered capacity of the battery. The ionic conductivity of the separator and consequently the delivered capacity values obtained at different discharge rates depends on the value of the Bruggeman coefficient, which is related with the degree of porosity and tortuosity of the membrane. Independently of scan rate, the optimal value of the degree of porosity is above 50% and the separator thickness should range between 1 μm at 32 μm for improved battery performance.

Learning Robotics for youngsters - the RoboParty experience

Series: "Advances in intelligent systems and computing , ISSN 2194-5357, vol. 417"

Numerical modeling and assessment of the thermal environment in an industrial premise of automotive components

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia Industrial

The role of liquid-based cytology and ancillary techniques in pleural and pericardic effusions: An institutional experience

BACKGROUND: Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of serous membrane effusions may fulfil a challenging role in the diagnostic analysis of both primary and metastatic disease. From this perspective, liquid-based cytology (LBC) represents a feasible and reliable method for empowering the performance of ancillary techniques (ie, immunocytochemistry and molecular testing) with high diagnostic accuracy. METHODS: In total, 3171 LBC pleural and pericardic effusions were appraised between January 2000 and December 2013. They were classified as negative for malignancy (NM), suspicious for malignancy (SM), or positive for malignancy (PM). RESULTS: The cytologic diagnoses included 2721 NM effusions (2505 pleural and 216 pericardic), 104 SM effusions (93 pleural and 11 pericardic), and 346 PM effusions (321 pleural and 25 pericardic). The malignant pleural series included 76 unknown malignancies (36 SM and 40 PM effusions), 174 metastatic lesions (85 SM and 89 PM effusions), 14 lymphomas (3 SM and 11 PM effusions), 16 mesotheliomas (5 SM and 11 SM effusions), and 3 myelomas (all SM effusions). The malignant pericardic category included 20 unknown malignancies (5 SM and 15 PM effusions), 15 metastatic lesions (1 SM and 14 PM effusions), and 1 lymphoma (1 PM effusion). There were 411 conclusive immunocytochemical analyses and 47 molecular analyses, and the authors documented 88% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 98% diagnostic accuracy, 98% negative predictive value, and 100% positive predictive value for FNAC. CONCLUSIONS: FNAC represents a primary diagnostic tool for effusions and a reliable approach with which to determine the correct follow-up. Furthermore, LBC is useful for ancillary techniques, such as immunocytochemistry and molecular analysis, with feasible diagnostic and predictive utility.

Influence of the hip joint modeling approaches on the kinematics of human gait

The influence of the hip joint formulation on the kinematic response of the model of human gait is investigated throughout this work. To accomplish this goal, the fundamental issues of the modeling process of a planar hip joint under the framework of multibody systems are revisited. In particular, the formulations for the ideal, dry, and lubricated revolute joints are described and utilized for the interaction of femur head inside acetabulum or the hip bone. In this process, the main kinematic and dynamic aspects of hip joints are analyzed. In a simple manner, the forces that are generated during human gait, for both dry and lubricated hip joint models, are computed in terms of the system’s state variables and subsequently introduced into the dynamics equations of motion of the multibody system as external generalized forces. Moreover, a human multibody model is considered, which incorporates the different approaches for the hip articulation, namely ideal joint, dry, and lubricated models. Finally, several computational simulations based on different approaches are performed, and the main results presented and compared to identify differences among the methodologies and procedures adopted in this work. The input conditions to the models correspond to the experimental data capture from an adult male during normal gait. In general, the obtained results in terms of positions do not differ significantly when the different hip joint models are considered. In sharp contrast, the velocity and acceleration plotted vary significantly. The effect of the hip joint modeling approach is clearly measurable and visible in terms of peaks and oscillations of the velocities and accelerations. In general, with the dry hip model, intra-joint force peaks can be observed, which can be associated with the multiple impacts between the femur head and the cup. In turn, when the lubricant is present, the system’s response tends to be smoother due to the damping effects of the synovial fluid.

A integração de técnicas BIM (Building Information Modeling) no projeto e na construção de estruturas de madeira

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil