Integration of geometric consistency contributory factors in three-leg junctions collision prediction models of Portuguese two-lane national highways

This paper aims at developing a collision prediction model for three-leg junctions located in national roads (NR) in Northern Portugal. The focus is to identify factors that contribute for collision type crashes in those locations, mainly factors related to road geometric consistency, since literature is scarce on those, and to research the impact of three modeling methods: generalized estimating equations, random-effects negative binomial models and random-parameters negative binomial models, on the factors of those models. The database used included data published between 2008 and 2010 of 177 three-leg junctions. It was split in three groups of contributing factors which were tested sequentially for each of the adopted models: at first only traffic, then, traffic and the geometric characteristics of the junctions within their area of influence; and, lastly, factors which show the difference between the geometric characteristics of the segments boarding the junctionsâ area of influence and the segment included in that area were added. The choice of the best modeling technique was supported by the result of a cross validation made to ascertain the best model for the three sets of researched contributing factors. The models fitted with random-parameters negative binomial models had the best performance in the process. In the best models obtained for every modeling technique, the characteristics of the road environment, including proxy measures for the geometric consistency, along with traffic volume, contribute significantly to the number of collisions. Both the variables concerning junctions and the various national highway segments in their area of influence, as well as variations from those characteristics concerning roadway segments which border the already mentioned area of influence have proven their relevance and, therefore, there is a rightful need to incorporate the effect of geometric consistency in the three-leg junctions safety studies.

Risk acceptance in the furniture sector: Analysis of acceptance level and relevant influence factors

Risk acceptance has been broadly discussed in relation to hazardous risk activities and/or technologies. A better understanding of risk acceptance in occupational settings is also important; however, studies on this topic are scarce. It seems important to understand the level of risk that stakeholders consider sufficiently low, how stakeholders form their opinion about risk, and why they adopt a certain attitude toward risk. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to examine risk acceptance in regard to occupational accidents in furniture industries. The safety climate analysis was conducted through the application of the Safety Climate in Wood Industries questionnaire. Judgments about risk acceptance, trust, risk perception, benefit perception, emotions, and moral values were measured. Several models were tested to explain occupational risk acceptance. The results showed that the level of risk acceptance decreased as the risk level increased. High-risk and death scenarios were assessed as unacceptable. Risk perception, emotions, and trust had an important influence on risk acceptance. Safety climate was correlated with risk acceptance and other variables that influence risk acceptance. These results are important for the risk assessment process in terms of defining risk acceptance criteria and strategies to reduce risks.

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.

Candida bracarensis: Evaluation of virulence factors and its tolerance to Amphotericin B and Fluconazole

Candida bracarensis is an uncommon Candida species found during an epidemiological study of candidiasis performed in Braga, Portugal. Initially, it was identified as C. glabrata, but recently detailed analyses pointed out their differences. So, little information is still available about C. bracarensis virulence factors and antifungal susceptibilities. Therefore, the main goal of this work is to evaluate the ability of C. bracarensis to form biofilms, to produce hydrolytic enzymes (proteases, phospholipases and hemolysins), as well as its susceptibility to amphotericin B and fluconazole. It was shown, for the first time, that all C. bracarensis strains were able to form biofilms and display proteinase and hemolytic activities. Moreover, although planktonic cells presented antifungal susceptibility, amphotericin B and fluconazole were unable to inhibit biofilm formation and eradicate pre-formed biofilms. Due to the propensity of C. bracarensis to display antifungal resistance and virulence attributes, the control of these emerging pathogens is recommended.

Para cá e para lá dos muros: relações familiares na interface entre o interior e o exterior da prisão

Tese de Doutoramento em Sociologia

Predicting type of delivery by identification of obstetric risk factors through data mining

In Maternity Care, a quick decision has to be made about the most suitable delivery type for the current patient. Guidelines are followed by physicians to support that decision; however, those practice recommendations are limited and underused. In the last years, caesarean delivery has been pursued in over 28% of pregnancies, and other operative techniques regarding specific problems have also been excessively employed. This study identifies obstetric and pregnancy factors that can be used to predict the most appropriate delivery technique, through the induction of data mining models using real data gathered in the perinatal and maternal care unit of Centro Hospitalar of Oporto (CHP). Predicting the type of birth envisions high-quality services, increased safety and effectiveness of specific practices to help guide maternity care decisions and facilitate optimal outcomes in mother and child. In this work was possible to acquire good results, achieving sensitivity and specificity values of 90.11% and 80.05%, respectively, providing the CHP with a model capable of correctly identify caesarean sections and vaginal deliveries.

A new empirical system for rock slope stability analysis in exploitation stage

An empirical system was developed to obtain a quality index for rock slopes in road infrastructures, named Slope Quality Index (SQI), and it was applied to a set of real slopes.The SQI is supported in nine factors affecting slope stability that contemplate the evaluation of different parameters. Consequently, each factor is classified by the degree of importance and influence by assigned weights. These weights were established through a statistical analysis of replies to a survey that was distributed to several experienced professionals in the field. The proposed SQI varies between1 and 5, corresponding to slopes in very good and very bad condition state, respectively. Besides the advantage linked to a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of slopes, theSQI also allows identifying the most critical factors on the slope stability, which is a fundamental issue for an efficient management of the slope network in the road infrastructure, namely in the planning of conservation and maintenance operations.

SQI – A quality assessment index for rock slopes

In this work, an empirical system was developed to obtain a quality index for rock slopes in road infrastructures, named Slope Quality Index (SQI), and it was applied to a set of real slopes. The SQI is supported in nine factors affecting slope stability that contemplate the evaluation of different parameters. Consequently, each factor is classified by degree of importance and influence by assigned weights. These weights were established through a statistical analysis of replies to a survey that was distributed to several experienced professionals in the field. The proposed SQI varies between 1 and 5, corresponding to slopes in very good and very bad condition state, respectively. Besides the advantage linked to a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of slopes, the SQI also allows identifying the most critical factors on the slope stability, which is a fundamental issue for an efficient management of the slope network in the road infrastructure, namely in the planning of conservation and maintenance operations.

Fuzzy maintenance costs of a wind turbine pitch control device

This paper deals with the problem of estimation maintenance costs for the case of the pitch controls system of wind farms turbines. Previous investigations have estimated these costs as (traditional) “crisp” values, simply ignoring the uncertainty nature of data and information available. This paper purposes an extended version of the estimation model by making use of the Fuzzy Set Theory. The results alert decision-makers to consequent uncertainty of the estimations along with their overall level, thus improving the information given to the mainte-nance support system.

Estudo de validação do Partner Interaction Questionnaire para fumantes e ex-fumantes

O presente artigo tem por objetivo validar uma versão adaptada do Partner Interaction Questionnaire (PIQ), instrumento que avalia o suporte para deixar de fumar dado pelo parceiro. É apresentada uma versão adaptada do PIQ para fumantes e abstinentes. Participaram no estudo 224 fumantes (52.7% do sexo feminino e 47.3% do sexo masculino; média de idades=28.6 anos; DP=8.69) e 169 ex-fumantes (68.6% do sexo masculino e 31.4% do sexo feminino; média de idades= 43.1 anos; DP=13.02). O instrumento apresentou boa fidelidade (alfa de Cronbach: 0.73) para a subescala positiva e para a subescala negativa (alfa de Cronbach: 0.77). O estudo de validade revelou a presença de dois fatores que explicam 43.36% da variância. O instrumento apresenta boa validade de construto, correlacionando-se positivamente com o ajustamento de casais e a qualidade de vida mental, e negativamente com a depressão. Esta versão adaptada do PIQ reuniu as condições necessárias para a sua aplicação em fumantes e ex-fumantes, podendo ser uma escala útil em programas de intervenção de cessação tabágica e de manutenção da abstinência.

Implementação da manutenção autónoma numa empresa de mobiliário

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão Industrial

The Data Mining applied for the prediction of highway roughness due to overloaded trucks

Currently, the quality of the Indonesian national road network is inadequate due to several constraints, including overcapacity and overloaded trucks. The high deterioration rate of the road infrastructure in developing countries along with major budgetary restrictions and high growth in traffic have led to an emerging need for improving the performance of the highway maintenance system. However, the high number of intervening factors and their complex effects require advanced tools to successfully solve this problem. The high learning capabilities of Data Mining (DM) are a powerful solution to this problem. In the past, these tools have been successfully applied to solve complex and multi-dimensional problems in various scientific fields. Therefore, it is expected that DM can be used to analyze the large amount of data regarding the pavement and traffic, identify the relationship between variables, and provide information regarding the prediction of the data. In this paper, we present a new approach to predict the International Roughness Index (IRI) of pavement based on DM techniques. DM was used to analyze the initial IRI data, including age, Equivalent Single Axle Load (ESAL), crack, potholes, rutting, and long cracks. This model was developed and verified using data from an Integrated Indonesia Road Management System (IIRMS) that was measured with the National Association of Australian State Road Authorities (NAASRA) roughness meter. The results of the proposed approach are compared with the IIRMS analytical model adapted to the IRI, and the advantages of the new approach are highlighted. We show that the novel data-driven model is able to learn (with high accuracy) the complex relationships between the IRI and the contributing factors of overloaded trucks

Singularities of the dynamical structure factors of the spin-1/2 XXX chain at finite magnetic field

We study the longitudinal and transverse spin dynamical structure factors of the spin-1/2 XXX chain at finite magnetic field h, focusing in particular on the singularities at excitation energies in the vicinity of the lower thresholds. While the static properties of the model can be studied within a Fermi-liquid like description in terms of pseudoparticles, our derivation of the dynamical properties relies on the introduction of a form of the ‘pseudofermion dynamical theory’ (PDT) of the 1D Hubbard model suitably modified for the spin-only XXX chain and other models with two pseudoparticle Fermi points. Specifically, we derive the exact momentum and spin-density dependences of the exponents ζτ(k) controlling the singularities for both the longitudinal  and transverse (τ = t) dynamical structure factors for the whole momentum range  , in the thermodynamic limit. This requires the numerical solution of the integral equations that define the phase shifts in these exponents expressions. We discuss the relation to neutron scattering and suggest new experiments on spin-chain compounds using a carefully oriented crystal to test our predictions.

ACL injuries identifiable for pre-participation imagiological analysis: Risk factors

Identification of pre-participation risk factors for noncontact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries has been attracting a great deal of interest in the sports medicine and traumatology communities. Appropriate methods that enable predicting which patients could benefit from pre- ventive strategies are most welcome. This would enable athlete-specific training and conditioning or tailored equipment in order to develop appropriate strategies to reduce incidence of injury. In order to accomplish these goals, the ideal system should be able to assess both anatomic and functional features. Complementarily, the screening method must be cost-effective and suited for widespread application. Anatomic study protocol requiring only standard X rays could answer some of such demands. Dynamic MRI/CT evaluation and electronically assisted pivot-shift evaluation can be powerful tools providing complementary information. These upcoming insights, when validated and properly combined, envision changing pre-participation knee examination in the near future. Herein different methods (validated or under research) aiming to improve the capacity to identify persons/athletes with higher risk for ACL injury are overviewed. 

Biomimetic supramolecular designs for the controlled release of growth factors in bone regeneration

The extracellular matrix (ECM) of tissues is an assembly of insoluble macromolecules that specifically interact with soluble bioactive molecules and regulate their distribution and availability to cells. Recapitulating this ability has been an important target in controlled growth factor delivery strategies for tissue regeneration and requires the design of multifunctional carriers. This review describes the integration of supramolecular interactions on the design of delivery strategies that encompass self-assembling and engineered affinity components to construct advanced biomimetic carriers for growth factor delivery. Several glycan- and peptide-based self-assemblies reported in the literature are highlighted and commented upon. These examples demonstrate how molecular design and chemistry are successfully employed to create versatile multifunctional molecules which self-assemble/disassemble in a precisely predicted manner, thus controlling compartmentalization, transport and delivery. Finally, we discuss whether recent advances in the design and preparation of supramolecular delivery systems have been sufficient to drive real translation towards a clinical impact.