Experimental dam-break waves profile analysis: horizontal mobile bed

River Flow, Vol. 2

Maximum level and time to peak of dam-break waves on mobile horizontal bed

Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol. 135, No. 11, November 1, 2009

Geomorphic dam-break flows. Part II: numerical simulation

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Water Management 163 Issue WM6

The impact of pharmaceutical policy measures: a structural-break approach

Pharmaceutical spending in many other countries has had a steep increase in the last decade. The Portuguese Government has adopted several measures to reduce pharmaceutical expenditure growth, ranging from increased co-payments to price decreases determined administratively. Promotion of generic consumption has also ranked high in political priorities. We assess the overall impact of the several policy measures on total pharmaceutical spending, using monthly data over the period January 1995 – August 2008. Endogenous structural breaks (time-series) methods were employed. Our findings suggest that policy measures aimed at controlling pharmaceutical expenditure have been, in general, unsuccessful. Two breaks were identified. Both coincide with administratively determined price decreases. Measures aimed at increasing competition in the market had no visible effect on the dynamics of Government spending in pharmaceutical products. In particular, the introduction of reference pricing had only a transitory effect of less than one year, with historical growth resuming quickly. The consequence of it is a transfer of financial burden from the Government to the patients, with no apparent effect on the dynamics of pharmaceutical spending. This strongly suggests that pharmaceutical companies have been able to adjust to policy measures, in order to sustain their sales. It remains a challenge for the future to identify firms’ strategies that supported continued growth of sales, despite the several policy measures adop

Geomorphic dam-break flows. Part I: conceptual model

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Water Management 163 Issue WM6

Insights into the role of almond CBF transcription factors in the environmental control of cold acclimation and dormancy break

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D degree in Biology

Business plan for the brand My Tea Break

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) and great tit (Parus major) in Portugal

In the present work, we studied a common outbreaking Lepidoptera species in Portuguese pine stands – Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Den. & Schiff.) - and one of its potential predators – Parus major (L.). The population dynamics of the immature stages of the Lepidoptera was studied in several types of Pinus pinaster (Aiton) plantations in three different areas: Setúbal Peninsula, Abrantes and National Pine Forest of Leiria. Location and plantation structure was the most important factors determining population density of T. pityocampa. Setubal and Abrantes was highly susceptible to attacks by the Lepidoptera, whereas Leiria had lower densities. Young and homogeneous pine stands was more susceptible to attacks than older and more heterogeneous pines stands. However, a desynchronized population of T. pityocampa, in which the larvae develops during summer instead of during winter, reached high densities also in Leiria. The impact of several mortality factors and climatic conditions on the immature stages of the insect (eggs and larvae), in normal and desynchronized populations are discussed, as well as possible evolutionary implications of the sudden appearance of the new version of T. pityocampa. The break of the pupa diapause and adult emergence times the annual life cycle of this insect. Adults from the desynchronized population emerged earlier than adults from the normal population, which in turn determined the change in the larvae development period. Different factors, potentially affecting the timing of adult emergence in both normal and abnormal populations are also discussed. To study P. Major, nest-boxes were placed in the areas of Setúbal and Leiria and they were monitored during three seasons. The nest-boxes increased the density of breeding and wintering birds in the studied pine plantations, indicating that a lack of natural holes are in fact a limiting factor for this populations. The earliest breeding start for this species was recorded in my study area, indicating that Portuguese coastal pines provide good breeding conditions earlier than in other areas of Europe and North Africa. This leads to an overlap between the end of the larvae stage of T. pityocampa and the beginning of the breeding season of P. major. Key-words: Thaumetopoea pityocampa, Parus major, Pinus pinaster, population dynamics, Portugal.

Zinc-substituted desulfovibrio gigas desulforedoxins

Protein Science (2002), 11:2464–2470

Development of Chitosan and Poly (Vinyl Alcohol) Blended scaffolds for cell culture using supercritical fluids technology

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Mestrado Integrado em Engenharia Química e Bioquímica

Molybdenum-containing proteins from Sulphate Reducing Bacteria: studying proteins with novel cofactors and revealing new features of old enzymes

Dissertação apresentada para a obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Bioquímica, especialidade de Bioquímica-Física pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Assinatura tectono-sedimentar do auge da compressão bética em Portugal: a descontinuidade sedimentar Valesiano terminal-Turoliano

An Upper Miocene important sedimentary break can be accurately recognised in the Portuguese basins and is reflected by a drastic palaeogeographic change in relation to a large-scale tectonic event of probable uppermost Vallesian-Turolian (9,5 Ma; middle Tortonian) age. The characterisation of the sedimentary record of this tectonic event, as well as its relations with interpreted active faults is made for different situations: Douro (NW border), Mondego, Lower-Tagus and Sado Tertiary basins. The sedimentary record, considered upper Tortonian-Messinian ? (uppermost Vallesian-Turolian ?) is interpreted mainly as endorheic alluvial fans (internal drainage), developed along active NNE-SSW indent-linked strike-slip faults and NE-SW reverse faults. At NE Portugal, proximal fluvial systems of an endorheic hydrographic network drained eastwards to the Spanish Duero interior Basin. The main evidences of the betic compression clímax in Portugal mainland are presented; the interpreted active tectonic structures are in accordance with an intense NNW-SSE crustal shortening, but some regional differences are also documented.

Estudo sobre o insight em pessoas com psicose

Para além das variáveis clínicas e sociodemográficas existem concerteza importantes componentes individuais que desempenham um contributo importante no nível de insight apresentado por cada pessoa doente, por exemplo, o nível de inteligência, personalidade, cultura, experiências passadas, memória, etc. A natureza clínica, emocional e/ou intelectual do termo ajuda-nos a compreender a complexidade da dificuldade que existe na sua tradução e, inclusive, na sua compreensão. Daí que as definições atribuídas ao conceito sejam muito distintas e variem consoante a formação teórica do autor/investigador. Pretende-se, a partir dessa identificação/compreensão, promover a qualidade de vida destas pessoas através do desenvolvimento de novas aprendizagens que possibilitem uma cooperação activa. É igualmente fundamental ir ao encontro das capacidade intactas de maneira a possibilitar a aquisição de novos(s) comportamento(s) que tenham um impacte positivo nas queixas, sinais, sintomas, incapacidade e disfuncionalidade apresentados pelo/a utente. Uma vez que a própria conceptualização do termo traduzirá aquilo que se pretende avaliar,será efectuada uma reflexão detalhada acerca dos instrumentos e definições que têm sido mais utilizadas para explorar o insight nas psicoses.Procurei, no meu trabalho de investigação, realçar e promover a importância que cada sujeito, alvo de intervenção, desempenha ao longo do seu processo de recuperação e na prevenção de recaídas. No seguimento dos objectivos acima descritos, para além da revisão teórica efectuada ao fenómeno em termos de conceptualização e estudos desenvolvidos na área de investigação, foi,neste estudo, realizada a contribuição para a validação do instrumento “Assessment of Insight in Psychosis: a re-standartization of a New Scale” de Marková & Berrios (2003).O fenómeno de insight escolhido pela Insight Scale, relata menos as mudanças vividas em relação à doença mental, e mais a actual consciência e articulação de tais mudanças. Tendo como base uma abordagem psicopedagógica, o fenómeno do insight aqui explorado assentou numa perspectiva reabilitativa, actual e multidimensional, que fosse para além das dimensões clínicas tradicionais. Neste sentido é apresentada uma escala original, intitulada “Escala de Avaliação do Insight e Identificação das Necessidades em Pessoas com Psicose”, bem como um modelo de intervenção psicopedagógico breve, assente nos pressupostos descritos ao longo do trabalho.-----------------------------------------ABSTRACT: The importance of insight in people with mental illnesses was first studied in psychiatry, in the first decades of the 20th century, by people as important as Lewis (1934) and Jaspers (1959). However, this field of investigation was left unexplored for many years. Only in the last decade has this phenomenon become the object of numerous scientific investigations, having been given special attention by its investigators. For this reason a significant number of instruments for evalauting insight in psychotic disorders were developed. Since then many papers have been published, which has allowed for a more in depth knowledge on the subject. Therefore, in recent years, the concept of insight has been developed in an attempt to clarify its compexity. A once dichotomic phenomenon, described in terms of presence or absence, became considered multidimensional, which made the identification of different levels of insight and different dimensions possible. Current concepts categorize insight into five dimensions: the awareness of the patient in relation to his/her mental illness, the awareness of the patient in relation to the social consequences of his/her illness, the awareness of the need for treatment, the awareness of the symptoms and the explanation of those symptoms in relation to the illness. The lack of insight in psychiatry, in general terms, and as this phenomenon has been described, the lack of awareness of having a mental illness, represents one of the most common symptoms of schizophrenia and affects a big part of the population that suffer from this illness. It is estimated that bewteen 50 and 80 per cent of patients with schizophrenia do not believe that they are ill, which, consequently has a big impact in the process of adherence to treatment. It is still not possible, however, to identify all the factors that determine the lack of insight in schizophrenics. There are psychological, social and cultural influences that almost certainly play their role in the lack of insight registered in this pathology.Since the impact of scizophrenia is felt in many aspects of the individual’s life, its effective treatment should be directed at various levels, including the improvement of insight. One of the objectives of this study is to explore the relationship between the level of insight in psychosis and the clinical and sociodemographic variables, the psychopathology and its global functioning. As well as the clinical and sociodemographic variables, there are of course important individual components that contribute to the level of insight seen in each patient, for example, their level of inteligence, personality, culture, past experiences, memory, etc. The clinical, emotional and/or intelectual nature of the term helps us understand the difficulty that lies in its interpretation as well as in its comprehension. Therefore, the definitions attributed to the term are very different and vary according to the theoretical training of the investigator. It is intended, from this identification/understanding, to promote the quality of life of these people through the development of new findings that might enable an active cooperation. It is equally fundamental to observe their unimpaired capacities in order to enable the acquisition of new behaviour(s) that have a positive impact on the complaints, signs, symptoms, incapacity and disfunctioning seen in the patient.As the actual comprehension of the term explains what we intend to evaluate, a detailed reflection is made on the instruments and definitions that have been used the most to explore insight in psychosis.In this investigation I tried to underline and promote the importance that each subject, undergoing medical intervention, plays during his/her process of recovery and prevention of relapses. Considering the above mentioned objectives, as well as a theoretical review of the phenomenon in terms of conceptualization and investigative studies developed, this study contributed to the validation of the instrument.The insight phenomenon chosen by the “Insight Scale”, records less changes experienced in relation to the mental illness and more actual awareness and articulation of these changes. Based on a psychopedagogical approach, the insight phenomenon explored here settled on a rehabilitation, current and multidimensional perspective that would go beyond the traditional clinical dimensions. For this reason an original scale entitled “Insight Evaluation Scale and Need Identification in Psychosis Patients” is presented, as well as a psychopedagogical intervention model soon to be used with admitted patients based on the presuppositions described in this study.

L’instabilité dynamique pendant le Toarcien dans le Moyen Atlas (Maroc): mise en évidence de glissements synsédimentaires dans le synclinal de Bou Angar

During the Toarcian, shelves undergo block-faulting with mechanisms of tilting. It results the break up of the Middle Atlas basin in subsident sectors separated by resistant ridges. This device is highlighted by strong variations of facies, more or less extended lacunar zones, reefs aligned on the ridges and of synsedimentary tectonics structures. Within the framework of mapping survey carried out in the south-west of Middle Atlas, a meticulous prospection of Bou Angar synclinal allowed the description of a new outcrop of Toarcian. This one offers good examples of extensional structures and bio-accumulations. These data, supplemented by other witnesses of the dynamic instability in the rest of the Middle Atlas, permit to propose a paleogeographic map of the Middle Atlas basin during the Toarcian.

A conceptual model for sheet-flow drawn from rapid granular flow theories

33rd IAHR Congress: Water Engineering for a Sustainable Environment