NAV Portugal's performance within the single European Sky Initiative

NAV Portugal is the Air Navigation Service Provider in Portugal, providing air traffic control services in the airspace under the country���s responsibility. Recently, the company has been included in an initiative launched by the European Commission, called the Single European Sky. This aims for a unification of the European airspace, improving it in four main pillars: safety, capacity, environment, and cost-efficiency. To each of them, Key Performance Indicators need to be computed and monitored, all having pre-defined targets. The presented work project will be analyzing how NAV Portugal is doing in the pillar of capacity, proving suggestions if needed.

Estudo de carbonizados resultantes da gasifica����o e co-pir��lise de res��duos da produ����o e processamento de arroz. Remo����o de Cr3+ presente em meio l��quido

A presente disserta����o apresenta o estudo de dois carbonizados, provenientes da gasifica����o (CG) e co-pir��lise (CP) de res��duos da cultura e processamento de arroz, no processo de remo����o de Cr3+ presente em meio l��quido. Os materiais de partida ��� casca de arroz (CA) e polietileno (PE) ��� utilizados nos ensaios de gasifica����o e co-pir��lise, e os carbonizados resultantes destes processos t��rmicos, foram caracterizados atrav��s de ensaios f��sicos, qu��micos e ecotoxicol��gicos. O elemento qu��mico com maior concentra����o, em todos os materiais, foi o Si. Nenhum dos eluatos revelou ecotoxicidade. No estudo de remo����o de Cr3+ com os dois carbonizados avaliaram-se os efeitos dos seguintes par��metros: pH inicial da solu����o, massa de adsorvente, tempo de contacto e concentra����o inicial de Cr3+. O carbonizado que teve o melhor desempenho na remo����o de Cr3+ foi o CG, com remo����es de cerca de 100%, devido ao aumento de pH, que provocou a precipita����o do Cr. A capacidade de adsor����o deste carbonizado variou entre 12 e 26 mg Cr3+.mg-1 CG, para uma concentra����o inicial aproximada de Cr3+ de 50 mg.L-1, pH inicial de 5, tempo de contacto de 24 horas e raz��es L/S entre 800 e 1000 mL. g-1. Foram aplicados os modelos cin��ticos de pseudo-primeira ordem e pseudo-segunda ordem, e as isot��rmicas de Langmuir, Freundlich e Sips. Observou-se um melhor ajustamento da cin��tica de pseudo-segunda ordem para CG. No CP verificou-se que ambos os modelos cin��ticos se ajustavam aos dados experimentais. No CG observou-se que as isot��rmicas de Freundlich e Sips apresentaram os melhores ajustamentos. Foi realizado um estudo dos mecanismos de adsor����o para o CG e verificou-se que a troca i��nica foi o fen��meno predominante. A avalia����o ecotoxicol��gica das solu����es contendo Cr, antes e ap��s o ensaio de adsor����o, indicou que o CG promoveu uma redu����o acentuada da ecotoxicidade das solu����es at�� um n��vel n��o detet��vel.

Control of a white organic light emitting diode���s emission parameters using a single doped RGB active layer

White Color tuning is an attractive feature that Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) offer. Up until now, there hasn���t been any report that mix both color tuning abilities with device stability. In this work, White OLEDs (W-OLEDs) based on a single RGB blend composed of a blue emitting N,N���-Di(1-naphthyl)-N,N���-diphenyl-(1,1���-biphenyl)-4,4���-diamine (NPB) doped with a green emitting Coumarin-153 and a red emitting 4-(Dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM1) dyes were produced. The final device structure was ITO/Blend/Bathocuproine (BCP)/ Tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminium (Alq3)/Al with an emission area of 0.25 cm2. The effects of the changing in DCM1���s concentration (from 0.5% to 1% wt.) allowed a tuning in the final white color resulting in devices capable of emitting a wide range of tunes ��� from cool to warm ��� while also keeping a low device complexity and a high stabilitty. Moreover, an explanation on the optoelectrical behavior of the device is presented. The best electroluminescense (EL) points toward 160 cd/m2 of brightness and 1.1 cd/A of efficiency, both prompted to being enhanced. An Impedance Spectroscopy (IS) analysis allowed to study both the effects of BCP as a Hole Blocking Layer and as an aging probe of the device. Finally, as a proof of concept, the emission was increased 9 and 64 times proving this structure can be effectively applied for general lighting.

Targeting Heme with Single Domain Antibodies

Heme, i.e. iron (Fe) protoporphyrin IX, functions as a prosthetic group in a variety of hemoproteins that participate in vital biologic functions essential to sustain life. Heme is a highly reactive molecule, participating in redox reactions, and presumably for this reason it must be sequestered within the heme pockets of hemoproteins, controlling its reactivity. However, under biological stress conditions, hemoproteins can release their prosthetic groups, generating ���free heme���, which binds loosely to proteins or to other molecules and presumably acquires unfettered redox activity. Moreover, a growing body of evidence supports the notion that ���free heme��� can act in a vasoactive, pro-inflammatory and cytotoxic manner when released from a subset of these hemoproteins, such as extracellular hemoglobin, generated during hemolytic conditions. (...)