Is ambient intelligence a truly human-centric paradigm in industry? Current research and application scenario

Based on the paper presented at the International Conference “Autonomous Systems: inter-relations of technical and societal issues”, organized by IET with the support of the Portuguese-German collaboration project on “Technology Assessment of Autonomous Robotics” (DAAD/CRUP) at FCT-UNL, Biblioteca da UNL, Campus de Caparica on 5-6 November 2009.

Ground Vibrations Induced by High-Speed Trains in Regions with Sudden Foundation Stiffness Change

In this paper analytical transient solutions of dynamic response of one-dimensional systems with sudden change of foundation stiffness are derived. In more details, cantilever dynamic response, expressed in terms of vertical displacement, is extended to account for elastic foundation and then two cantilever solutions, corresponding to beams clamped on left and right hand side, with different value of Winkler constant are connected together by continuity conditions. The internal forces, as the unknowns, can be introduced by the same values in both clamped beam solutions and solved. Assumption about time variation of internal forces at the section of discontinuity must be adopted and originally analytical solution will have to include numerical procedure.

Rainwater harvesting case study: FCT/UNL campus

Dissertação apresentada para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente, Perfil Engenharia Sanitária

Liderança e estratégia em contexto de inovação nas organizações de saúde : estudos de caso

RESUMO - A presente investigação procura descrever e compreender como a estratégia influencia a liderança e como esta por sua vez interage nos processos de inovação e mudança, em organizações de saúde. Desconhecem-se estudos anteriores, em Portugal, sobre este problema de investigação e da respectiva problemática teórica. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório e descritivo que envolveu 5 organizações de saúde, 4 portuguesas e 1 espanhola, 4 hospitais (dois privados e uma unidade local de saúde). Utilizou-se uma abordagem mista de investigação (qualitativa e quantitativa), que permitiu compreender, através do estudo de caso, como se articulam a estratégia, a liderança e a inovação nessas cinco organizações de saúde. Os resultados do estudo empírico foram provenientes da recolha de dados efectuada através de observação directa e estruturada, entrevistas com actores-chave, documentos em suporte de papel e digital, e ainda inquérito por questionário de auto-resposta a uma amostra (n=165) de actores do line e do staff (Administradores, Directores de Serviço/Departamento, Enfermeiros Chefe e Técnicos Coordenadores) das cinco organizações de saúde. Tanto o modelo de Miles & Snow (estratégia organizacional), como o modelo dos valores contrastantes de Quinn (cultura organizacional e liderança), devidamente adaptados, mostram-se heurísticos e provam poder aplicar-se às organizações de saúde, apesar a sua complexidade e especificidade. Tanto as organizações do sector público como do sector privado e organizações públicas concessionadas (parcerias público privadas) podem ser acompanhadas e monitorizadas nos seus processos de inovação e mudança, associados aos tipos de cultura, liderança ou estratégia organizacionais adoptadas. As organizações de saúde coabitam num continuum, onde o ambiente (quer interno quer externo) e o tempo são factores decisivos que condicionam a estratégia a adoptar. Também aqui, em função da realidade dinâmica e complexa onde a organização se move, não há tipologias puras. Há, sim, uma grande plasticidade e flexibilidade organizacionais. Quanto aos líderes, exercem habitualmente a autoridade formal, pela via da circular normativa. Não são pares (nem primi inter pares), colocam-se por vezes numa posição de superioridade, quando o mais adequado seria a relação de parceria, cooperação e procura de consensos, com todos os colaboradores, afim de serem eles os verdadeiros protagonistas e facilitadores da mudança e das inovações. Como factores facilitadores da inovação e da mudança, encontrámos nas organizações de saúde estudadas o seguinte: facilidade de aprender; visão/missão adequadas; ausência de medo de falhar; e como factores inibidores: falta de articulação entre serviços/departamentos; estrutura organizacional (no sector público muito verticalizada e no sector privado mais horizontalizada); resistência à mudança; falta de tempo; falha no tempo de reacção (o tempo útil para a tomada de decisão é, por vezes, ultrapassado). --------ABSTRACT - The present research seeks to describe and understand how strategy influences leadership and how this in turn interacts in the process of innovation and change in health organizations. Previous studies on these topics are unknown in Portugal, about this research problem and its theoretical problem. This is an exploratory and descriptive study that involved 5 health organizations, 4 Portuguese and 1 Spanish. We used a mixed approach of research (qualitative and quantitative), which enabled us to understand, through case study, how strategy and leadership were articulated with innovation in these five health organizations. The results of the empirical study came from data collection through direct observation, interviews with key actors, documents and survey questionnaire answered by 165 participants of line and staff (Administrators, Medical Directors of Service /Department, Head Nurses and Technical Coordinators) of the five health organizations. Despite their complexity and specificity, both the model of Miles & Snow (organizational strategy) and the model of the Competing Values Framework of Quinn (organizational culture and leadership), suitably adapted, have proven heuristic power and able to be apply to healthcare organizations. Both public sector organizations, private and public organizations licensed (public-private partnerships) can be tracked and monitored in their processes of innovation and change in order to understand its kind of culture, leadership or organizational strategy adopted. Health organizations coexist in a continuum, where the environment (internal and external) and time are key factors which determine the strategy to adopt. Here too depending on the dynamic and complex reality where the organization moves, there are no pure types. There is indeed a great organizational plasticity and flexibility. Leaders usually carry the formal authority by circular normative. They are not pairs (or primi inter pares). Instead they are, sometimes, in a position of superiority, when the best thing is partnership, collaboration, cooperation, building consensus and cooperation with all stakeholders, in order that they are the real protagonists and facilitators of change and innovation. As factors that facilitate innovation and change, we found in health organizations studied, the following: ease of learning; vision / mission appropriate; absence of fear of failure, and as inhibiting factors: lack of coordination between agencies / departments; organizational structure (in the public sector it is too vertical and in the private sector it is more horizontal); resistance to change; lack of time and failure in the reaction time (the time for decision making is sometimes exceeded).

The most Portuguese village in Portugal: tradition in the age of its technical reproducibility

Ethnographic film is often associated with many European countries’ past as colonial powers and the way these countries used film to depict African, American and Asian territories and populations they once ruled. However, ethnographic film also has a European tradition of its own, closely interlaced with the history of ethnography and anthropology as autonomous sciences and with the desire of scholars to represent local, regional and national cultural identities. This paper presents a Portuguese attempt of this sort dating from 1938, when the authoritarian regime organized a national contest to determine which would be Portugal’s most “authentic” village – something other European countries also did. As part of this metonymic contribution to the construction of Portugal’s national identity as an agrarian utopia, a short documentary was shot, sponsored by the same official propaganda office that had organized the contest. In this film, the viewer’s gaze is made to coincide with the one of the national jury visiting the final selection of 12 villages and to whose benefit local scholars had organized all sorts of colourful peasant traditions hoping to cause the strongest impression. The film makes a strong case for the importance of ethnographic film as a relevant instance not only of the iteration of existing European national cultures, but also of the construction of so many of Europe’s national identities and traditions. Suffice to say that even today the village of “Monsanto”, which won the 1938 contest, is still referred to as “Portugal’s most Portuguese village”.

Spatial metrics and Landsat data for urban landuse change detection: case of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.

Talk on water ecological economics and participatory watershed governance

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Ambiente pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Interpreting change in human-nature and long term social relationships

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Ciências do Ambiente, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia.

Bridging environmental conflicts with social metabolism : forestry expansion and socioeconomic change

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Ciências do Ambiente, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

The genetic basis of morphological change in convergent evolution of natural populations: identifying candidate genes behind convergent evolution in blind cavefish astyanax mexicanus

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D. degree in Biology at the Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

Introduction: Guinea-Bissau Today - The Irrelevance of the State and the Permanence of Change

African Studies Review, Volume 52, Number 2, pp. 35–

Economias de escala em centros hospitalares

RESUMO - Perante o actual contexto de contenção de gastos no sector da saúde e consequente preocupação com a eficiência do sistema, tem‐se assistido a mudanças várias no modelo de gestão e organizacional do sistema de saúde. Destaca‐se a alteração da estrutura hospitalar, com vista à racionalização dos seus recursos internos, onde as fusões hospitalares têm assumido um papel determinante. Em Portugal, nos últimos 10 anos, assistiu‐se a uma significativa redução do número de hospitais (de sensivelmente 90 para 50 unidades), exclusivamente através das fusões e sem quaisquer alterações no número de estruturas físicas existentes. Não obstante os argumentos justificativos desta reforma, a avaliação dos objectivos implícitos é insuficiente. Neste âmbito, pretendeu‐se com este estudo contribuir para a análise do impacte da criação de centros hospitalares na redução de gastos, isto é, verificar se a consolidação e consequente reengenharia dos processos produtivos teve consequencias ao nível da obtenção de economias de escala. Para esta análise usou‐se uma base de dados em painel, onde se consideraram 75 hospitais durante 7 anos (2003‐2009), número que foi reduzindo ao longo do período em análise devido às inúmeras fusões já referidas. Para avaliar os ganhos relativos às fusões hospitalares, ao nível da eficiência técnica e das economias de escala, recorreu‐se à fronteira estocástica especificada função custo translog. Estimada a fronteira, foi possível analisar três centros hospitalares específicos, onde se comparou o período pré‐fusão (2005‐2006) com o período após a fusão (2008‐2009). Como variáveis explicativas, relativas à produção hospitalar, considerou‐se o número de casos tratados e os dias de internamento (Vita, 1990; Schuffham et al., 1996), o número de consultas e o número de urgências, sendo estas variáveis as mais comuns na literatura (Vita, 1990; Fournier e Mitchell, 1992; Carreira, 1999). Quanto à variável dependente usou‐se o custo variável total, que compreende o total de custos anuais dos hospitais excepto de imobilizado. Como principais conclusões da investigação, em consequência da criação dos centros hospitalares, são de referir os ganhos de escala na fusão de hospitais de reduzida dimensão e com mais serviços complementares. --------ABSTRACT - Driven by the current pressure on resources induced by budgetary cuts, the Portuguese Ministry of Health is imposing changes in the management model and organization of NHS hospitals. The most recent change is based on the creation of Hospital Centres that are a result of administrative mergers of existing hospitals. In less than 10 years the number of hospitals passed from around 90 to around 50, only due to the mergers and without any change in the existing number of physical institutions. According to the political discourse, one of the main goals expected from this measure is the creation of synergies and more efficiency in the use of available resources. However, the merger of the hospitals has been a political decision without support or evaluation of the first experiments. The aim of this study is to measure the results of this policy by looking at economies of scale namely through reductions in the expenditures, as expected and sought by the MoH. Data used covers 7 years (2003‐2009) and 75 hospitals, number that has been reduced my the enoumerous mergers during the last decade. This work uses a stochastic frontier analysis through the translog cost function to examine the gains from mergers, which were decomposed into technical efficiency and economies of scale. It was analised these effects by the creation of three specific hospital centers, using a longitudinal approach to compare the period pre‐merger (2003‐2006) with the post‐merger period (2007‐09). To measure changes in inpatient hospital production volume and length of stay are going to be considered as done by Vita (1990) and Schuffham et al. (1996). For outpatient services the number of consultations and emergencies are going to be considered (Vita, 1990; Fournier e Mitchell, 1992; Carreira, 1999). Total variable cost is considered as the dependent variable explained the aforementioned ones. After a review of the literature results expected point to benefits from the mergers, namely a reduction in total expenditures and in the number of duplicated services. Results extracted from our data point in the same direction, and thus for the existence of some economies of scale only for small hospitals.

The International Multilateral System: Imperatives of Change, Potential Scenarios and Suggestions for the Future

Thesis presented to satisfy the necessary requirements for obtaining a PhD degree in International Relation with specialization in Globalization and the Environment,

The Media Online and the Climate Change

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Novos Media e Práticas Web

Structural change: a brief review

This is a short summary of some aspects of structural change models, and is not intended to be comprehensive survey or review. Many important works have been left out. Also, the presentation was not intended to be rigorous nor general. It’s main purpose is only to focus on some recent developments in this area and motivate the reader to learn more.