Late-medieval construction site management at the Monastery of Jerónimos in Lisbon

Through the analysis of the exceptional accounting documents of 1517 related to the construction of the Monastery of Jerónimos (Lisbon), this paper discusses the main characteristics of a new model of construction site organization. In the later Middle Ages we can find, among others, two main models of constructing site organization. One, older and more widespread, consisted in a centralized and pyramidal management model. The other, apparently more recent, was based in the existence of several autonomous teams working simultaneously, each one responsible for building a specific part or section of the building. This paper describes and discusses this new organizational model as it was adopted and implemented by João de Castilho (1470–1552) for the construction of the Monastery of Jerónimos in 1517, probably for the first time in Portugal, but with some parallels in other places in Europe.

Primusinter (ím)pares - análise da presença dos académicos nos plateaux informativos da TV portuguesa

Os académicos estão a tornar-se uma presença cada vez mais visível nos plateaux informativos da TV portuguesa. Não são um grupo muito diversificado. Pelo contrário. Apresentam-se como uma confraria que é oriunda das universidades de Lisboa e pertence a um reduzido número de campos de saberes. Aos plateaux televisivos portugueses dificilmente chegará o fazer-ciência concreto. O que chega são alguns dos seus actores, o que não significa que o consigam por um efeito de reconhecimento inter pares, mas, antes, por um efeito de verdadeiras imparidades: porque já adquiriram suficiente capital simbólico em zonas exteriores ao campo científico. Zonas mais limítrofes, como o campo institucional-académico, ou zonas mais afastadas, como o campo comunicacional.

Structural assessment of a masonry vault in Portugal

This paper reports on a structural safety assessment and performance evaluation of the upper choir of the Santa Maria de Belém Church in the Jerónimos monastery, Lisbon, one of the most important cultural heritage buildings in Portugal. The possibility of adding a new 20 t organ to the upper choir and its effects on the church structure's response are presented. A refined and a simplified finite-element model is developed to investigate the structure's performance under self-weight and seismic actions. A sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effect of masonry mechanical properties and rib cross-sections on the structural response, given the difficulty in accurately obtaining this information. The results show that the safety level of the structure is acceptable, even in the case of adding a heavy new organ.

Shaking table tests of a two-storey log house

This paper presents the findings of an experimental campaign that was conducted to investigate the seismic behaviour of log houses. A two-storey log house designed by the Portuguese company Rusticasa® was subjected to a series of shaking table tests at LNEC, Lisbon, Portugal. The paper contains the description of the geometry and construction of the house and all the aspects related to the testing procedure, namely the pre-design, the setup, instrumentation and the testing process itself. The shaking table tests were carried out with a scaled spectrum of the Montenegro (1979) earthquake, at increasing levels of PGA, starting from 0.07g, moving on to 0.28g and finally 0.5g. The log house did not suffer any major damage and remained in working condition throughout the entire process. The preliminary analysis of the overall behaviour of the log house is also discussed.

Engenheiros portugueses no século XVIII: as suas "geometrias especulativas"

O século XVIII Português foi, à semelhança do resto da Europa, fértil em alterações académicas, científicas e ideológicas. O desenvolvimento da ciência e da técnica, o surgimento das primeiras máquinas, impulsionou a área do saber, que atualmente chamamos de engenharia. Em Portugal (à época ainda um império do qual fazia parte, entre outros, o Brasil), as escolas técnicas e militares consolidam-se e surgem vários engenheiros e militares de renome cujas obras se difundem pelo reino. Manuel de Azevedo Fortes (1660-1749), engenheiro-mor do reino Português, publicou, em 1728 e 1729, os dois tomos de uma das suas obras maiores, O Engenheiro Português, obra dedicada à formação dos engenheiros na Academia Militar de Lisboa.. A primeira parte deste tratado aborda os conhecimentos matemáticos que Azevedo Fortes considera essenciais na formação dos engenheiros. Na sua Geometria Especulativa, um manuscrito datado de 1724, aborda os elementos de geometria e trigonometria, sem esquecer as suas aplicações. O Brigadeiro José Fernandes Pinto Alpoim (1700-1765), engenheiro que se destacou na arquitetura e fortificação do Brasil no século XVIII, publicou o Exame de Artilheiros em 1744 e Exame de Bombeiros em 1748, obras contendo os princípios da geometria e da trigonometria e as suas aplicações à engenharia militar que se destinavam ao ensino dos militares na Academia Militar do Rio de Janeiro, onde era professor. Nesta comunicação analisaremos a matemática, em particular a geometria, presente nestas obras, salientando não só os conteúdos abordados mas a ênfase dada às aplicações desses conteúdos nos contextos militares da época.

Local seismic cultures: the use of timber frame structures in the south of Portugal

Given the fact that using timber frame structures has proven to improve the seismic behavior of vernacular architecture, as has been reported in past earthquakes in many countries, its preservation as a traditional earthquake resistant practice is important. This paper firstly intends to evaluate whether the use of timber frames as a traditional seismic resistant technique for vernacular architecture in the South of Portugal, traditionally a seismic region, is still active. Secondly, the city of Vila Real de Santo António was selected as a case study because it also followed a Pombaline development contemporary to the reconstruction of Lisbon. The plan included the provision of timber frame partition walls for some of the buildings and, thus, an overview of the type of constructions originally conceived is provided. Finally, the alterations done in the original constructions and the current state of the city center are described and the effect of these changes on the seismic vulnerability of the city is discussed.

Lima de Freitas: O simbólico da obra pública – contributos para uma estética educacional

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da Educação - Especialidade em Filosofia da Educação

O "ser português" e o "outro": Revisitar a história de Portugal no diálogo com a civilização chinesa - O caso Tomás Pereira

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da Cultura - Especialidade em Culturas do Extremo Oriente

A liberdade de circulação de pessoas no contexto da cidadania da União Europeia: acesso aos benefícios sociais

Dissertação de mestrado em Direitos Humanos

Impact performance prediction of injection-molded talc-filled polypropylene through thermomechanical environment assessment

Due to the fact that different injection molding conditions tailor the mechanical response of the thermoplastic material, such effect must be considered earlier in the product development process. The existing approaches implemented in different commercial software solutions are very limited in their capabilities to estimate the influence of processing conditions on the mechanical properties. Thus, the accuracy of predictive simulations could be improved. In this study, we demonstrate how to establish straightforward processing-impact property relationships of talc-filled injection-molded polypropylene disc-shaped parts by assessing the thermomechanical environment (TME). To investigate the relationship between impact properties and the key operative variables (flow rate, melt and mold temperature, and holding pressure), the design of experiments approach was applied to systematically vary the TME of molded samples. The TME is characterized on computer flow simulation outputsanddefined bytwo thermomechanical indices (TMI): the cooling index (CI; associated to the core features) and the thermo-stress index (TSI; related to the skin features). The TMI methodology coupled to an integrated simulation program has been developed as a tool to predict the impact response. The dynamic impact properties (peak force, peak energy, and puncture energy) were evaluated using instrumented falling weight impact tests and were all found to be similarly affected by the imposed TME. The most important molding parameters affecting the impact properties were found to be the processing temperatures (melt andmold). CI revealed greater importance for the impact response than TSI. The developed integrative tool provided truthful predictions for the envisaged impact properties.

Seismic retrofit of masonry-to-timber connections in historical constructions

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia Civil.

Tribunais nacionais e tutela jurisdicional efetiva: da cooperação à integração judiciária no contencioso da união europeia

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências Jurídicas (área de especialização em Ciências Jurídicas Públicas).

Análise estratégica da internacionalização da APFF- Administração do Porto da Figueira da Foz

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Negócios Internacionais

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.

A comunicação do compromisso para com o desenvolvimento sustentável, das organizações portuguesas certificadas em qualidade, ambiente e segurança

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia Industrial (área de especialização em Qualidade, Segurança e Manutenção)