“PhenoWorld”: a new multidimensional strategy for studying behaviour in rodents

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da Saúde

Comparing standard and low-cost tools for gradient evaluation along potential cycling paths

Promoting the use of non-motorized modes of transport, such as cycling, is an important contribution to the improvement of mobility, accessibility and equity in cities. Cycling offers a fast and cheap transportation option for short distances, helping to lower pollutant emissions and contributing to a healthier way of life. In order to make the cycling mode more competitive in relation to motorized traffic, it is necessary to evaluate the potential of alternatives from the perspective of the physical effort. One way to do so consists of assessing the suitability of locations for implementing cycling infrastructures. In this work, four tools to determine the gradient along potential cycling paths are compared. Furthermore, an evaluation of the reliability of some low-cost tools to measure this parameter was conducted, by comparison with standard measurements using cartographic plans, on a field case study applied to the city of Braga, Portugal. These tools revealed a good level of accuracy for the planning stage, but proved to be less reliable for use in design.

Durability indicators comparison for SCC and CC in tropical coastal environments

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) demands more studies of durability at higher temperatures when subjected to more aggressive environments in comparison to the conventional vibrated concrete (CC). This work aims at presenting results of durability indicators of SCC and CC, having the same water/binder relations and constituents. The applied methodologies were electrical resistivity, diffusion of chloride ions and accelerated carbonation experiments, among others, such as microstructure study, scanning electron microscope and microtomography experiments. The tests were performed in a research laboratory and at a construction site of the Pernambuco Arena. The obtained results shows that the SCC presents an average electrical resistivity 11.4% higher than CC; the average chloride ions diffusion was 63.3% of the CC; the average accelerated carbonation penetration was 45.8% of the CC; and the average open porosity was 55.6% of the CC. As the results demonstrated, the SCC can be more durable than CC, which contributes to elucidate the aspects related to its durability and consequent prolonged life cycle.

Development of autonomous maintenance in a furniture company

This article presents a work performed in the maintenance department of a furniture company in Portugal, in order to develop and implement autonomous maintenance. The main objective of the project was related to the objective to increase and make effective the autonomous maintenance tasks performed by production operators, and in this way avoiding unplanned downtime due to equipment failures. Although some autonomous maintenance tasks were already carried out within the company, a preliminary study revealed weaknesses in the application of this tool. In the initial phase of this pilot project, the main problems encountered at the level of autonomous maintenance were related to the lack of time to carry out these tasks, showing that the stipulated procedures were far from the real needs of the company. To solve these problems a pilot project was conducted, making several changes in the performance of autonomous maintenance tasks, making them standard and adapted to reality of each production line. There was a general improvement in the factory indicators, and essentially there was a behavioral change, since the operators felt that their opinions were taking into account and began to understand the importance of small tasks performed by them.

Nutritional status and food intake at workplace as health indicators for industrial workers

This study aimed to verify the correlation among the nutritional composition of the food consumed in the work environment, the energy expenditure and the nutritional status of workers from different sectors (administration and production) in different industries. The anthropometric data, in addition to the energy expenditure and food intake at lunch were evaluated for 292 workers, all of them included in the Brazilian Worker Food Program (also called PAT). The food consumption was assessed from the direct observation of the meal, for five consecutive days. The obtained data were analyzed by Pearson correlation test and by a Principal Components Analysis. Prevalence of overweight was detected in the studied population, according to the Body Mass Index (BMI). A statistically significant difference was found in terms of the energy expenditure of physical activity and daily energy expenditure in relation to gender and the working sector. The obtained results indicate that there is significant positive correlation (p < 0.01) between the following variables: body weight and BMI (r = 0.84), weight and daily energy expenditure (DEE) (r = 0.52), BMI and DEE (r = 0.27), DEE and energy (r = 0.38), and energy and lipid intake (r = 0.50). These findings seems to indicate the importance of ensuring an adequate balance of nutrients at meals, due to the heterogeneity of workers, in particular in the case of those workers who perform tasks or functions requiring less energy expenditure.

Estudo do trabalho numa empresa de produção de pneus e implementação de ferramentas Lean

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão Industrial

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.

Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson produced in association with top quarks and decaying into bb in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson produced in association with a pair of top quarks, tt¯H, is presented. The analysis uses 20.3 fb−1 of pp collision data at s√ = 8 TeV, collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider during 2012. The search is designed for the H to bb¯ decay mode and uses events containing one or two electrons or muons. In order to improve the sensitivity of the search, events are categorised according to their jet and b-tagged jet multiplicities. A neural network is used to discriminate between signal and background events, the latter being dominated by tt¯+jets production. In the single-lepton channel, variables calculated using a matrix element method are included as inputs to the neural network to improve discrimination of the irreducible tt¯+bb¯ background. No significant excess of events above the background expectation is found and an observed (expected) limit of 3.4 (2.2) times the Standard Model cross section is obtained at 95% confidence level. The ratio of the measured tt¯H signal cross section to the Standard Model expectation is found to be μ=1.5±1.1 assuming a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV.

A demonstration case on the derivation of process-level logical architectures for ambient assisted living ecosystems

When representing the requirements for an intended software solution during the development process, a logical architecture is a model that provides an organized vision of how functionalities behave regardless of the technologies to be implemented. If the logical architecture represents an ambient assisted living (AAL) ecosystem, such representation is a complex task due to the existence of interrelated multidomains, which, most of the time, results in incomplete and incoherent user requirements. In this chap- ter, we present the results obtained when applying process-level modeling techniques to the derivation of the logical architecture for a real industrial AAL project. We adopt a V-Model–based approach that expresses the AAL requirements in a process-level perspec- tive, instead of the traditional product-level view. Additionally, we ensure compliance of the derived logical architecture with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reference architecture as nonfunctional requirements to support the implementa- tion of the AAL architecture in cloud contexts.

Promoting independent living and recreation in life through ambient assisted living technology

The increase in life expectancy with a decrease in birth rates is contributing to the ageing of the European population. This phenomenon, coupled with greater awareness of the quality of life, the need to have cost-efficient assistive care, the intention of people to live independently in their homes, and the technological developments in recent decades, have contributed to the emergence of the concept of ambient assisted living (AAL). AAL solutions aim to provide healthy and safe ageing to users through promoting independence in performing daily activities and interacting with technology, taking into consideration the deterioration of the users’ capabilities and the reduced costs of the solutions. In this chapter, AAL developments of monitoring activities of daily living (ADLs) and participation in a virtual community with the selected stakeholders are introduced, their roadmap with the expected technological developments are described, and the expected impact of these solutions on the end users of the developed solutions are discussed. This enables a real user guidance structure that represents the different needs and limitations of each user, presenting a highly structured project based on personas and possible solutions for them. The AAL4ALL Ambient Assisted Living for All (ALL4ALL) project is considered here as a case study to analyze and illustrate the ALL concepts discussed in this chapter.

Search for the bb¯ decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson in associated (W/Z)H production with the ATLAS detector

A search for the bb¯ decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson is performed with the ATLAS experiment using the full dataset recorded at the LHC in Run 1. The integrated luminosities used from pp collisions at s√=7 and 8 TeV are 4.7 and 20.3 fb−1, respectively. The processes considered are associated (W/Z)H production, where W→eν/μν, Z→ee/μμ and Z→νν. The observed (expected) deviation from the background-only hypothesis corresponds to a significance of 1.4 (2.6) standard deviations and the ratio of the measured signal yield to the Standard Model expectation is found to be μ=0.52±0.32(stat.)±0.24(syst.) for a Higgs boson mass of 125.36 GeV. The analysis procedure is validated by a measurement of the yield of (W/Z)Z production with Z→bb¯ in the same final states as for the Higgs boson search, from which the ratio of the observed signal yield to the Standard Model expectation is found to be 0.74±0.09(stat.)±0.14(syst.).

Desenvolvimento de um plano de manutenção preventiva numa empresa de mobiliário

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão Industrial

Implementação da manutenção autónoma numa empresa de mobiliário

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão Industrial

COST Action TU1406: eBook of the 1st Workshop Meeting

COST Action TU1406 aims to address the European economic and societal needs by standardizing the condition assessment and maintenance level of roadway bridges. Currently, bridge quality control plans vary from country to country and, in some cases, within the same country. This therefore urges the establishment of a European guideline to surpass the lack of a standard methodology to assess bridge condition and to define quality control plans for roadway bridges. Such a guideline will comprise specific recommendations for assessing performance indicators as well as for the definition of performance goals, bringing together different stakeholders (e.g. universities, institutes, operators, consultants and owners) from various scientific disciplines (e.g. on-site testing, visual inspection, structural engineering, sustainability, etc.) in order to establish a common transnational language. COST Action TU1406 Workshops aim to facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences between active researchers and practitioners as well as to stimulate discussions on new and emerging issues in line with the conference topics. This first Workshop essentially focuses on WG1 issues, namely, intends to address performance indicators, how these are assessed (e.g. visual inspection, nondestructive tests and monitoring systems), with what frequency and what values are generally obtained. The main outcomes, given in this eBook, were really important, not only for WG1 developments, but also for all the other WGs and for the Action itself.

Implementação de sistemas de encriptação AES advanced encryption standard em hardware para segurança

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Electrónica Industrial e Computadores