Welcome to the new world disorder: conflict and transformation in Ian McEwan���s saturday

Ian McEwan���s novel Saturday deals with the complex issues of conflict and transformation in the age of terrorism. The plot presents one internal dilemma and several interpersonal altercations that occur within a mere twenty-four hours: a) Perowne (the protagonist) vs. himself, in face of his ambivalent thoughts regarding British military participation in the war in the Middle East; b) The protagonist vs. Baxter, a ruffian from East End, in the context of a car accident; c) Perowne vs. a fellow anaesthetist, Jay Strauss, during a squash game; d) Perowne���s daughter, Daisy vs. her grandfather, John Grammaticus, both poets and rivals; e) Perowne���s family vs. Baxter, who intrudes the protagonist���s house. In this paper, I exemplify, analyse and discuss how: a) Understanding the causes of what we call evil constitutes an important step towards mutual understanding; b) Both science and arts (which Perowne considers, at first, irrelevant) are important elements in the process of transformation; c) Both personal and interpersonal conflicts are intrinsic to human nature ��� but they also propitiate healthy changes in behaviour and opinion, through reflection. In order to do so, I resort to Saturday, and to the work of several specialists in the field of conflict management.

Determination of pesticides in fruit and fruit juices by chromatographic methods. An overview

In order to combat a variety of pests, pesticides are widely used in fruits. Several extraction procedures (liquid extraction, single drop microextraction, microwave-assisted extraction, pressurized liquid extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, solid-phase extraction, solid-phase microextraction, matrix solid-phase dispersion, and stir bar sorptive extraction) have been reported to determine pesticide residues in fruits and fruit juices. The significant change in recent years is the introduction of the Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuEChERS) methods in these matrices analysis. A combination of techniques reported the use of new extraction methods and chromatography to provide better quantitative recoveries at low levels. The use of mass spectrometric detectors in combination with liquid and gas chromatography has played a vital role to solve many problems related to food safety. The main attention in this review is on the achievements that have been possible because of the progress in extraction methods and the latest advances and novelties in mass spectrometry, and how these progresses have influenced the best control of food, allowing for an increase in the food safety and quality standards.

O papel da certifica����o NP 4427:2004 no desenvolvimento das pr��ticas de gest��o de recursos humanos em organiza����es portuguesas

Este estudo tem como objetivo determinar o papel que a certifica����o pela Norma Portuguesa 4427:2004 ��� ���Sistemas de Gest��o de Recursos Humanos ��� requisitos��� (NP 4427:2004) assume no desenvolvimento das pr��ticas de Gest��o de Recursos Humanos. Neste sentido, foi realizada uma abordagem te��rica �� evolu����o temporal e conceptual da Gest��o de Recursos Humanos e identificadas as melhores pr��ticas que reconhecem nas pessoas um indispens��vel e estrat��gico ativo organizacional. Posteriormente �� apresentada a NP 4427:2004 e o seu enquadramento no contexto organizacional portugu��s. Apresentando-se como uma tem��tica moderna no ��mbito da Gest��o de Recursos Humanos, o presente estudo questiona se as empresas certificadas pela NP 4427:2004 promovem pr��ticas de Recursos Humanos estrat��gicas, se o grau de interven����o destes Departamentos, no desenvolvimento das pr��ticas, �� maior nas empresas certificadas pela NP 4427:2004, e se os respons��veis destes setores possuem qualifica����o espec��fica na ��rea de Recursos Humanos. A um universo de 95 empresas foi aplicado um inqu��rito por question��rio, que permitiu concluir que as organiza����es certificadas pela NP 4427:2004 promovem pr��ticas de Recursos Humanos estrat��gicas e envolvem Departamentos de Recursos Humanos com elevado grau de interven����o no desenvolvimento das mesmas, sendo que os seus Respons��veis n��o possuem forma����o espec��fica na ��rea dos Recursos Humanos.

An approach for reliability-based robust design optimisation of angle-ply composites

Variations of manufacturing process parameters and environmental aspects may affect the quality and performance of composite materials, which consequently affects their structural behaviour. Reliability-based design optimisation (RBDO) and robust design optimisation (RDO) searches for safe structural systems with minimal variability of response when subjected to uncertainties in material design parameters. An approach that simultaneously considers reliability and robustness is proposed in this paper. Depending on a given reliability index imposed on composite structures, a trade-off is established between the performance targets and robustness. Robustness is expressed in terms of the coefficient of variation of the constrained structural response weighted by its nominal value. The Pareto normed front is built and the nearest point to the origin is estimated as the best solution of the bi-objective optimisation problem.

Dynamic QoS adaptation of inter- dependent task sets in cooperative embedded systems

Due to the growing complexity and dynamism of many embedded application domains (including consumer electronics, robotics, automotive and telecommunications), it is increasingly difficult to react to load variations and adapt the system's performance in a controlled fashion within an useful and bounded time. This is particularly noticeable when intending to benefit from the full potential of an open distributed cooperating environment, where service characteristics are not known beforehand and tasks may exhibit unrestricted QoS inter-dependencies. This paper proposes a novel anytime adaptive QoS control policy in which the online search for the best set of QoS levels is combined with each user's personal preferences on their services' adaptation behaviour. Extensive simulations demonstrate that the proposed anytime algorithms are able to quickly find a good initial solution and effectively optimise the rate at which the quality of the current solution improves as the algorithms are given more time to run, with a minimum overhead when compared against their traditional versions.

Overcoming the objectification of western classical music with the concept of music as a process

Dissertation to obtain the degree of Master in Music - Artistic Interpretation

Optimal location of the workpiece in a PKM-based machining robotic cell

Most machining tasks require high accuracy and are carried out by dedicated machine-tools. On the other hand, traditional robots are flexible and easy to program, but they are rather inaccurate for certain tasks. Parallel kinematic robots could combine the accuracy and flexibility that are usually needed in machining operations. Achieving this goal requires proper design of the parallel robot. In this chapter, a multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to optimize the structure of a parallel robot according to specific criteria. Afterwards, for a chosen optimal structure, the best location of the workpiece with respect to the robot, in a machining robotic cell, is analyzed based on the power consumed by the manipulator during the machining process.

Sistema de Torre de Refrigera����o

Mestrado em Engenharia Qu��mica - Ramo Optimiza����o Energ��tica na Ind��stria Qu��mica

Energy efficiency of quadruped gaits

This paper studies periodic gaits of quadruped locomotion systems. The purpose is to determine the best set of gait and locomotion variables during walking, for different robot velocities, based on two formulated performance measures. A set of experiments reveals the influence of the gait and locomotion variables upon the proposed indices, namely that the gait and the locomotion parameters should be adapted to the robot forward velocity.

Incorporating sustainability into a chemical company���s modus operandi

The intent of this dissertation is to review relevant existing management systems and chemical industry initiatives to identify synergies, overlaps and gaps with Sustainability best practices, to map the barriers to the incorporation of Sustainability and formulate recommendations to facilitate execution of Sustainability practices within existing management systems. A chemical industry Sustainability survey was conducted through APEQ, the Portuguese association of chemical companies, which constitutes the first baseline on the topic for this national industry association. The commonly used international standards and the Responsible Care�� (RC) initiative were cross-referenced against the United Nations Global Compact Assessment Tool. Guidance on how to incorporate Sustainability into a company���s modus operandi was collapsed into Sustainability Playbooks. The survey revealed that 73% of the APEQ member companies that participated in the survey have a Sustainability Plan. Both large and small/medium APEQ member companies see the market not willing to pay extra for ���greener��� products as one of the main barriers. APEQ large enterprise see complexity of implementation and low return on investment as the other most significant barriers while small/medium enterprise respond that the difficulty to predict customer sustainability needs is the other most significant barrier. Amongst many other insights from this survey reported to APEQ, Life Cycle Assessment practices were found to have a low level of implementation and were also considered of low importance, thus identifying a very important opportunity in Sustainability practices to be addressed by APEQ. Two hundred and seventy three assessment points from United Nations Global Compact Assessment Tool plus five additional items were cross-referenced with international standard requirements. With the authorization of the intellectual property owners, the United Nations Global Compact Assessment Tool was modified to introduce actionable recommendations for each gap identified by management standard. This tool was automated to output specific recommendations for 63 possible combinations after simply selecting from a list of commonly used management standards and the RC initiative. Finally this modified tool was introduced into Playbooks for Incorporation of Sustainability at two levels: a ���Get Started Playbook��� for beginners or small/medium size enterprise and an ���Advanced Playbook��� as a second advancement stage or for large enterprise.

Aplica����o de ferramentas de simula����o estoc��stica na ��rea de planeamento de uma empresa de abastecimento de ��gua

No presente trabalho procura-se evidenciar algumas solu����es para aplica����o de simula����o estoc��stica num contexto de gest��o dos ativos, aplicado a um sistema de abastecimento de ��gua, tirando partido da informa����o dispon��vel sobre a manuten����o que vem realizando, ao longo dos anos. Procura-se tamb��m descrever como estas metodologias podem ser aplicadas noutros casos, futuramente, beneficiando ainda da recolha de informa����o de colaboradores da empresa, com experi��ncia no cargo e com elevado conhecimento do funcionamento das infraestruturas. A simula����o estoc��stica �� uma ��rea cujas ferramentas podem dar uma preciosa ajuda no processo de tomada de decis��o. Por outro lado, as organiza����es preocupam-se, cada vez mais, com o tema da gest��o de ativos e com os custos a si associados, come��ando a investir mais tempo e dinheiro nessa mat��ria com o objetivo de delinearem estrat��gias para aumentar o per��odo de vida ��til dos seus ativos e otimizarem os seus investimentos de renova����o. Nesse contexto, evidencia-se que um adequado plano de interven����es de manuten����o e opera����o �� uma boa metodologia, para garantir a redu����o de falhas no sistema de abastecimento de uma empresa desse setor, bem como garantir que as infraestruturas se encontram em condi����es de funcionamento. Contudo, esta abordagem tradicional n��o ser�� suficiente para garantir as melhores pr��ticas e os objetivos que se pretendem alcan��ar com uma gest��o de ativos atual. O trabalho inclui, ainda, um estudo de caso com que se aplicaram as ferramentas estudadas a um caso real de um grupo de bombagem, de uma das Esta����es Elevat��rias da empresa.

Boas pr��ticas de gest��o de recursos humanos na hotelaria: um estudo explorat��rio no contexto portugu��s

Este estudo caracteriza as pr��ticas de gest��o de recursos humanos que s��o mais comummente promovidas procurando, tamb��m, conhecer o grau de interven����o que o gestor de recursos humanos tem na dissemina����o dessas pr��ticas. Os dados foram recolhidos a partir de inqu��ritos por question��rios realizados a uma amostra de 33 unidades hoteleiras localizadas em Portugal. Os resultados mostram que as pr��ticas de Gest��o de Recursos Humanos mais comuns s��o: contrata����o; comunica����o e partilha da informa����o; forma����o profissional; higiene e seguran��a no trabalho; integra����o e acolhimento; e recrutamento e sele����o. Estes resultados sugerem que as unidades hoteleiras portuguesas est��o a utilizar pr��ticas de gest��o de recursos humanos congruentes com as que a literatura designa como boas pr��ticas de gest��o de recursos humanos. Baseado nos resultados, este artigo discute as principais implica����es te��ricas e pr��ticas. Sugest��es para futura pesquisa s��o tamb��m apresentadas.

O sistema de controlo interno nas autarquias locais: o caso do Munic��pio de Espinho

Disserta����o de Mestrado Apresentada ao Instituto de Contabilidade e Administra����o do Porto para a obten����o do grau de Mestre em Auditoria Orientador: Doutor Carlos Mota Coorientadora: Doutora Ana Paula Lopes

Properties and Sustainability of Biodiesel from Animal Fats and Fish Oil

This work presents and analyses the fat and fuel properties and the methyl ester profile of biodiesel from animal fats and fish oil (beef tallow, pork lard, chicken fat and sardine oil). Also, their sustainability is evaluated in comparison with rapeseed biodiesel and fossil diesel, currently the dominant liquid fuels for transportation in Europe. Results show that from a technological point of view it is possible to use animal fats and fish oil as feedstock for biodiesel production. From the sustainability perspective, beef tallow biodiesel seems to be the most sustainable one, as its contribution to global warming has the same value of fossil diesel and in terms of energy efficiency it has the best value of the biodiesels under consideration. Although biodiesel is not so energy efficient as fossil diesel there is room to improve it, for example, by replacing the fossil energy used in the process with renewable energy generated using co-products (e.g. straw, biomass cake, glycerine).

Redes de distribui����o de g��s natural: projeto e desenvolvimento

Atualmente o g��s natural �� a principal fonte de energia utilizada pela maioria dos europeus nos setores dom��stico, terci��rio e industrial. �� considerado a alternativa energ��tica do futuro e a mais ecologicamente correta de que podemos dispor, numa escala compat��vel com as elevadas necessidades energ��ticas da Humanidade a n��vel global. Aliado a estes factos, surgem cada vez mais regras de boa pr��tica, normas e legisla����o, nomeadamente especifica����es t��cnicas de forma a regular o setor e dotar as entidades intervenientes na conce����o e controlo de uma instala����o de rede de g��s, de um conhecimento mais detalhado e atualizado sobre esta mat��ria. Esta disserta����o pretende assim contribuir para a melhoria e moderniza����o do desempenho de todos os que exercem fun����es neste setor, com vista ao aperfei��oamento da qualidade e utilidade dos seus servi��os. Este trabalho re��ne o conjunto de informa����o t��cnica presente na legisla����o e normas de forma a preencher a eventual falha do conhecimento neste ramo por parte destes profissionais dotando-os de um conhecimento mais aprofundado, de modo a que possam executar corretamente e de forma eficaz o seu trabalho. Por outro lado, esta disserta����o tem como objetivo o projeto e desenvolvimento de uma rede de distribui����o de g��s natural aplicado a tr��s redes concretas: rede de distribui����o, edif��cio e moradia. A conce����o do projeto de instala����o de g��s inicia-se com a recolha de informa����o, seguindo-se o desenvolvimento do estudo do tra��ado. Assim, est��o reunidas as condi����es para dimensionar e providenciar a escolha de materiais mais adequados para a execu����o da obra. A metodologia de dimensionamento adotada teve por base a equa����o dos gases perfeitos e a f��rmula de Renouard simplificada, encontrando-se implementada numa folha de c��lculo. Esta ferramenta de c��lculo aliada �� metodologia permite realizar de forma expedita o correto dimensionamento de uma rede de g��s, bem como apurar se a velocidade de escoamento se encontra em conformidade com o definido no projeto.