A influência da cultura e do julgamento profissional sobre a contabilidade : uma análise sob o ponto de vista dos preparadores da informação em Portugal

Mestrado em Auditoria

Solid-state Marx based two-switch voltage modulator for the On-Line Isotope Mass Separator accelerator at the European Organization for Nuclear Research

A new circuit topology is proposed to replace the actual pulse transformer and thyratron based resonant modulator that supplies the 60 kV target potential for the ion acceleration of the On-Line Isotope Mass Separator accelerator, the stability of which is critical for the mass resolution downstream separator, at the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The improved modulator uses two solid-state switches working together, each one based on the Marx generator concept, operating as series and parallel switches, reducing the stress on the series stacked semiconductors, and also as auxiliary pulse generator in order to fulfill the target requirements. Preliminary results of a 10 kV prototype, using 1200 V insulated gate bipolar transistors and capacitors in the solid-state Marx circuits, ten stages each, with an electrical equivalent circuit of the target, are presented, demonstrating both the improved voltage stability and pulse flexibility potential wanted for this new modulator.

Formaldeído em habitações domésticas: contaminação ambiental e potenciais fontes

Do ponto de vista das preocupações de saúde, os níveis de contaminação do ar interior assumem actualmente uma elevada importância quando se tem em consideração que as pessoas passam a maior parte do seu tempo no interior de edifícios. Neste contexto, o formaldeído é um dos poluentes mais preocupantes e, inclusivamente, os resultados de concentração obtidos em habitações do espaço Europeu foram considerados preocupantes devido ao facto de estarem relacionados com efeitos negativos para a saúde. O estudo exploratório desenvolvido pretendeu disponibilizar informação acerca das concentrações de formaldeído existentes em habitações domésticas portuguesas. Estudou‑se a presença de formaldeído em habitações novas e habitações domésticas com ocupação, abrangendo 6 unidades de cada um dos tipos considerados. Para a avaliação ambiental foi utilizado um equipamento de leitura direta que deteta as concentrações de formaldeído por fotoionização com uma lâmpada de 11,7 eV. A temperatura ambiente e a humidade relativa foram igualmente medidas, de acordo com o estipulado na Norma Internacional ISO 7726:1998. No caso das habitações novas foram registados valores de concentração superiores a 0,08 ppm em 3 das unidades estudadas. Por outro lado, em 4 das habitações com ocupação foram obtidos valores superiores a 0,08 ppm. O desenvolvimento deste estudo permitiu reconhecer algumas das possíveis fontes emissoras e os factores que influenciam as concentrações de formaldeído nas habitações em Portugal. ABSTRACT - Nowadays, indoor air contamination is considering an important health issue considering that people spend most of their time indoors. In this context, formaldehyde is a pollutant of major concern and, recently, concentration results obtained in European dwellings reveal high concentrations and values related with negative health effects in occupants. The present exploratory study sought to provide information about formaldehyde concentrations in Portuguese dwellings. It was studied formaldehyde presence in new dwellings and dwellings with occupation and included 6 units of each setting. For concentrations measure, it was used a direct‑reading equipment that detects formaldehyde concentration by photoionization. Temperature and relative humidity were also measured in accordance with International Standard ISO 7726:1998. In the case of new dwellings, in 3 units concentration values were higher than 0.08 ppm. In addition, in 4 units of the 6 dwellings with occupation, concentrations higher than this reference value were obtained. The development of this study permitted to recognize some of the possible indoors emissions sources and to define several of the preventive measures that can be applied.

Looking the organization's "backstages": political leadership in health organizations

Although leadership investigation has become for the last years an election topic with major relevance on organizational studies and accepting peacefully the general idea that organizations are freeland for politics, all these acceptances run against a kind of “fear” from the academy scholars on approaching the political leaderships’ singularities on organizations. Indeed, when we cross over both phenomena we verify that the absence and weaknesses towards the unique characteristics of political leadership on work scenarios are becoming sharped regarding to their predictors, their workers and their organizations, even if we left aside its moderator variables.

Low-Carbon Cement with Waste Oil-Cracking Catalyst Incorporation

The present paper shows preliminary results of an ongoing project which one of the goals is to investigate the viability of using waste FCC catalyst (wFCC), originated from Portuguese oil refinery, to produce low carbon blended cements. For this purpose, four blended cements were produced by substituting cement CEM I 42.5R up to 20% (w/w) by waste FCC catalyst. Initial and final setting times, consistency of standard paste, soundness and compressive strengths after 2, 7 and 28 days were measured. It was observed that the wFCC blended cements developed similar strength, at 28 days, compared to the reference cement, CEM I 42.5R. Moreover, cements with waste FCC catalyst incorporation up to 15% w/w meet European Standard EN 197-1 specifications for CEM II/A type cement, in the 42.5R strength class.

Two-Higgs-doublet model in light of the standard model H -> tau(+)tau(-) search at the LHC

We study the implications of the searches based on H -> tau(+)tau-by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations on the parameter space of the two-Higgs-doublet model (2HDM). In the 2HDM, the scalars can decay into a tau pair with a branching ratio larger than the SM one, leading to constraints on the 2HDM parameter space. We show that in model II, values of tan beta > 1.8 are definitively excluded if the pseudoscalar is in the mass range 110 GeV < m(A) < 145 GeV. We have also discussed the implications for the 2HDM of the recent dimuon search by the ATLAS collaboration for a CP-odd scalar in the mass range 4-12 GeV.

Instrumentos de apoio à gestão estratégica e ao desempenho organizacional dos fisioterapeutas em unidades privadas de fisioterapia

Mestrado em Intervenção Sócio-Organizacional na Saúde - Área de especialização: Políticas de Administração e Gestão de Serviços de Saúde.

The use of non-standard CT conversion ramps for Monte Carlo verification of 6 MV prostate IMRT plans

Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculation algorithms have been widely used to verify the accuracy of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) dose distributions computed by conventional algorithms due to the ability to precisely account for the effects of tissue inhomogeneities and multileaf collimator characteristics. Both algorithms present, however, a particular difference in terms of dose calculation and report. Whereas dose from conventional methods is traditionally computed and reported as the water-equivalent dose (Dw), MC dose algorithms calculate and report dose to medium (Dm). In order to compare consistently both methods, the conversion of MC Dm into Dw is therefore necessary. This study aims to assess the effect of applying the conversion of MC-based Dm distributions to Dw for prostate IMRT plans generated for 6 MV photon beams. MC phantoms were created from the patient CT images using three different ramps to convert CT numbers into material and mass density: a conventional four material ramp (CTCREATE) and two simplified CT conversion ramps: (1) air and water with variable densities and (2) air and water with unit density. MC simulations were performed using the BEAMnrc code for the treatment head simulation and the DOSXYZnrc code for the patient dose calculation. The conversion of Dm to Dw by scaling with the stopping power ratios of water to medium was also performed in a post-MC calculation process. The comparison of MC dose distributions calculated in conventional and simplified (water with variable densities) phantoms showed that the effect of material composition on dose-volume histograms (DVH) was less than 1% for soft tissue and about 2.5% near and inside bone structures. The effect of material density on DVH was less than 1% for all tissues through the comparison of MC distributions performed in the two simplified phantoms considering water. Additionally, MC dose distributions were compared with the predictions from an Eclipse treatment planning system (TPS), which employed a pencil beam convolution (PBC) algorithm with Modified Batho Power Law heterogeneity correction. Eclipse PBC and MC calculations (conventional and simplified phantoms) agreed well (<1%) for soft tissues. For femoral heads, differences up to 3% were observed between the DVH for Eclipse PBC and MC calculated in conventional phantoms. The use of the CT conversion ramp of water with variable densities for MC simulations showed no dose discrepancies (0.5%) with the PBC algorithm. Moreover, converting Dm to Dw using mass stopping power ratios resulted in a significant shift (up to 6%) in the DVH for the femoral heads compared to the Eclipse PBC one. Our results show that, for prostate IMRT plans delivered with 6 MV photon beams, no conversion of MC dose from medium to water using stopping power ratio is needed. In contrast, MC dose calculations using water with variable density may be a simple way to solve the problem found using the dose conversion method based on the stopping power ratio.

Estratégias e internacionalização na manutenção e produção

Trabalho Final de Mestrado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica

High Performance Multi-Standard Architecture for DCT Computation in H.264/AVC High Profile and HEVC Codecs

A new high performance architecture for the computation of all the DCT operations adopted in the H.264/AVC and HEVC standards is proposed in this paper. Contrasting to other dedicated transform cores, the presented multi-standard transform architecture is supported on a completely configurable, scalable and unified structure, that is able to compute not only the forward and the inverse 8×8 and 4×4 integer DCTs and the 4×4 and 2×2 Hadamard transforms defined in the H.264/AVC standard, but also the 4×4, 8×8, 16×16 and 32×32 integer transforms adopted in HEVC. Experimental results obtained using a Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA demonstrated the superior performance and hardware efficiency levels provided by the proposed structure, which outperforms its more prominent related designs by at least 1.8 times. When integrated in a multi-core embedded system, this architecture allows the computation, in real-time, of all the transforms mentioned above for resolutions as high as the 8k Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) (7680×4320 @ 30fps).

Towards the detection of deception in interactive multimedia environments

A classical application of biosignal analysis has been the psychophysiological detection of deception, also known as the polygraph test, which is currently a part of standard practices of law enforcement agencies and several other institutions worldwide. Although its validity is far from gathering consensus, the underlying psychophysiological principles are still an interesting add-on for more informal applications. In this paper we present an experimental off-the-person hardware setup, propose a set of feature extraction criteria and provide a comparison of two classification approaches, targeting the detection of deception in the context of a role-playing interactive multimedia environment. Our work is primarily targeted at recreational use in the context of a science exhibition, where the main goal is to present basic concepts related with knowledge discovery, biosignal analysis and psychophysiology in an educational way, using techniques that are simple enough to be understood by children of different ages. Nonetheless, this setting will also allow us to build a significant data corpus, annotated with ground-truth information, and collected with non-intrusive sensors, enabling more advanced research on the topic. Experimental results have shown interesting findings and provided useful guidelines for future work. Pattern Recognition

Does diaphragmatic breathing technique really improve its range of motion? An objective assessment

Purpose - To verify the results of a diaphragmatic breathing technique (DBT) on diaphragmatic range of motion in healthy subjects. Methods - A total of 51 healthy subjects (10 male; 41 female), mean age 20 years old and a body mass index (BMI) ranging from 15.6 to 34.9 kg/m2, were enrolled in this study. Diaphragmatic range of motion was assessed by M-mode ultrasound imaging. Measurements were made before and after the DBT implementation in a standard protocol, based on 3 seconds of inspiration starting from a maximum expiration. Differences between assessments were analyzed by descriptive statistics and t-test (p < 0.05). Results - Mean value range of motion before DBT was 55.3 ± 13.4 mm and after DBT was 63.8 ± 13.2 mm showing a significant improvement of 8.5 ± 14.7 mm (p < 0.001). A strong correlation between the slope and the range of motion was found (r = 0.71, p < 0.001). Conclusions - Based on ultrasound measurements, it has been proved that DBT really contributes to a higher diaphragmatic range of motion. Future studies are needed in order to understand the influence of protocol parameters (e.g. inspiration time). Clinical implications - In the contest of evidence-based practice in physiotherapy, it has been showed by objective measurements that DBT improves the diaphragm range of motion, translating into a more efficient ventilatory function and thus can be used in clinical setting. To our knowledge this is the first study to assess the effects of DBT on range of motion of diaphragm muscle with ultrasound imaging.

Avaliação da exposição a fungos e partículas em explorações avícolas e suinícolas: estudo

O projeto “Avaliação da Exposição a Fungos e Partículas em Explorações Avícolas e Suinícolas” contemplou um elevado número de colheitas ambientais e biológicas e respectivo processamento laboratorial, sendo apenas possível a sua concretização graças ao financiamento disponibilizado pela Autoridade para as Condições de Trabalho. Foi realizado um estudo transversal para avaliar a contaminação causada por fungos e partículas em 7 explorações avícolas e 7 explorações suinícolas. No que concerne à monitorização biológica, foram medidos os parâmetros espirométricos, utilizando o espirómetro MK8 Microlab, avaliada a existência de sintomas clínicos associados com a asma e outras doenças alérgicas, através de questionário adaptado European Community Respiratory Health Survey e, ainda, avaliada a sensibilização aos agentes fúngicos (IgE). Foram ainda adicionados dois objetivos ao estudo, designadamente: aferir a existência de três espécies/estirpes potencialmente patogénicas/toxinogénicas com recurso à biologia molecular e avaliar a exposição dos trabalhadores à micotoxina aflatoxina B1 por recurso a indicador biológico de exposição. Foram colhidas 27 amostras de ar de 25 litros nas explorações avícolas e 56 de 50 litros nas explorações suinícolas através do método de impacto. As colheitas de ar e a medição da concentração das partículas foram realizadas no interior e no exterior dos pavilhões, sendo este último considerado como local de referência. Simultaneamente, a temperatura e a humidade relativa também foram registadas. As colheitas das superfícies foram realizadas através da técnica de zaragatoa, tendo sido utilizado um quadrado de metal inoxidável de 10 cm de lado, de acordo com a International Standard ISO 18593 – 2004. As zaragatoas obtidas (20 das explorações avícolas e 48 das explorações suinícolas) foram inoculadas em malte de extract agar (2%) com cloranfenicol (0,05 g/L). Além das colheitas de ar e de superfícies, foram também obtidas colheitas da cama das explorações avícolas (7 novas e 14 usadas) e da cobertura do pavimento das explorações suinícolas (3 novas e 4 usadas) e embaladas em sacos esterilizados. Cada amostra foi diluída e inoculada em placas contendo malte extract agar. Todas as amostras foram incubadas a 27,5ºC durante 5 a 7 dias e obtidos resultados quantitativos (UFC/m3; UFC/m2; UFC/g) e qualitativos com a identificação das espécies fúngicas. Para a aplicação dos métodos de biologia molecular foram realizadas colheitas de ar de 300 litros utilizando o método de impinger com a velocidade de recolha de 300 L/min. A identificação molecular de três espécies potencialmente patogénicas e/ou toxinogénicas (Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus e Stachybotrys chartarum) foram obtidas por PCR em tempo real (PCR TR) utilizando o Rotor-Gene 6000 qPCR Detection System. As medições de partículas foram realizadas por recurso a equipamento de leitura direta (modelo Lighthouse, 2016 IAQ). Este recurso permitiu medir a concentração (mg/m3) de partículas em 5 dimensões distintas (PM 0.5; PM 1.0; PM 2.5; PM 5.0; PM10). Nas explorações avícolas, 28 espécies/géneros de fungos foram isolados no ar, tendo Aspergillus versicolor sido a espécie mais frequente (20.9%), seguida por Scopulariopsis brevicaulis (17.0%) e Penicillium sp. (14.1%). Entre o género Aspergillus, Aspergillus flavus apresentou o maior número de esporos (>2000 UFC/m3). Em relação às superfícies, A. versicolor foi detetada em maior número (>3 × 10−2 UFC/m2). Na cama nova, Penicillium foi o género mais frequente (59,9%), seguido por Alternaria (17,8%), Cladosporium (7,1%) e Aspergillus (5,7%). Na cama usada, Penicillium sp. foi o mais frequente (42,3%), seguido por Scopulariopsis sp. (38,3%), Trichosporon sp. (8,8%) e Aspergillus sp. (5,5%). Em relação à contaminação por partículas, as partículas com maior dimensão foram detectadas em maiores concentrações, designadamente as PM5.0 (partículas com a dimensão de 5.0 bm ou menos) e PM10 (partículas com a dimensão de 10 bm ou menos). Neste setting a prevalência da alteração ventilatória obstrutiva foi superior nos indivíduos com maior tempo de exposição (31,7%) independentemente de serem fumadores (17,1%) ou não fumadores (14,6%). Relativamente à avaliação do IgE específico, foi apenas realizado em trabalhadores das explorações avícolas (14 mulheres e 33 homens), não tendo sido encontrada associação positiva (p<0.05%) entre a contaminação fúngica e a sensibilização a antigénios fúngicos. No caso das explorações suinícolas, Aspergillus versicolor foi a espécie mais frequente (20,9%), seguida por Scopulariopsis brevicaulis (17,0%) e Penicillium sp. (14,1%). No género Aspergillus, A. versicolor apresentou o maior isolamento no ar (>2000 UFC/m3) e a maior prevalência (41,9%), seguida por A. flavus e A. fumigatus (8,1%). Em relação às superfícies analisadas, A. versicolor foi detetada em maior número (>3 ×10−2 UFC/m2). No caso da cobertura do pavimento das explorações suinícolas, o género Thicoderma foi o mais frequente na cobertura nova (28,0%) seguida por A. versicolor e Acremonium sp. (14,0%). O género Mucor foi o mais frequente na cobertura usada (25,1%), seguido por Trichoderma sp. (18,3%) e Acremonium sp. (11,2%). Relativamente às partículas, foram evidenciados também valores mais elevados na dimensão PM5 e, predominantes nas PM10. Neste contexto, apenas 4 participantes (22,2%) apresentaram uma alteração ventilatória obstrutiva. Destes, as obstruções mais graves encontraram-se nos que também apresentavam maior tempo de exposição. A prevalência de asma na amostra de trabalhadores em estudo, pertencentes aos 2 contextos em estudo, foi de 8,75%, tendo-se verificado também uma prevalência elevada de sintomatologia respiratória em profissionais não asmáticos. Em relação à utilização complementar dos métodos convencionais e moleculares, é recomendável que a avaliação da contaminação fúngica nestes settings, e, consequentemente, a exposição profissional a fungos, seja suportada pelas duas metodologias e, ainda, que ocorre exposição ocupacional à micotoxina aflatoxina B1 em ambos os contextos profissionais. Face aos resultados obtidos, é importante salientar que os settings alvo de estudo carecem de uma intervenção integrada em Saúde Ocupacional no âmbito da vigilância ambiental e da vigilância da saúde, com o objetivo de diminuir a exposição aos dois factores de risco estudados (fungos e partículas).

A checklist for patient safety rounds at the care pathway level

Objective - To define a checklist that can be used to assess the performance of a department and evaluate the implementation of quality management (QM) activities across departments or pathways in acute care hospitals. Design - We developed and tested a checklist for the assessment of QM activities at department level in a cross-sectional study using on-site visits by trained external auditors. Setting and Participants - A sample of 292 hospital departments of 74 acute care hospitals across seven European countries. In every hospital, four departments for the conditions: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke, hip fracture and deliveries participated. Main outcome measures - Four measures of QM activities were evaluated at care pathway level focusing on specialized expertise and responsibility (SER), evidence-based organization of pathways (EBOP), patient safety strategies and clinical review (CR). Results - Participating departments attained mean values on the various scales between 1.2 and 3.7. The theoretical range was 0-4. Three of the four QM measures are identical for the four conditions, whereas one scale (EBOP) has condition-specific items. Correlations showed that every factor was related, but also distinct, and added to the overall picture of QM at pathway level. Conclusion - The newly developed checklist can be used across various types of departments and pathways in acute care hospitals like AMI, deliveries, stroke and hip fracture. The anticipated users of the checklist are internal (e.g. peers within the hospital and hospital executive board) and external auditors (e.g. healthcare inspectorate, professional or patient organizations).

Occupational co-exposure to several mycotoxins in the waste management setting

Contrary to fungi, exposure to mycotoxins is not usually identified as a risk factor present in occupational settings. This is probably due to the inexistence of limits regarding concentration of airborne mycotoxins, and also due to the fact that these compounds are rarely monitored in occupational environments. Despite the optimal conditions for fungal growth and, consequently, for mycotoxins production in all the waste management chain, only a few articles were dedicated to study occupational exposure to mycotoxins in this occupational setting. Aim of study: A study was developed in Portugal aiming to assess occupational co-exposure to mycotoxins in the waste management setting.