Data-centric concurrency control on the java programming language

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

eVentos 2 - Autonomous sailboat control

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

Identification of atmospheric pollutants control mechanisms during co-combustion of coal and non-toxic wastes

Doctoral dissertation for Ph.D. degree in Sustainable Chemistry

Prevención y control de alcohol y drogas en la gestión de riesgos laborales

Memoria presentada para optar al grado de Doctor en Higiene, Salud y Seguridade en el Trabajo

The impact of national and international observers in democratic elections: A randomized control trial from the Mozambican elections of 2009

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

Electrodialytic remediation of two types of air pollution control residues and their applicability in construction materials

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente Perfil de Engenharia de Sistemas Ambientais

Service-oriented infrastructure to support the control, monitoring and management of a shop floor system

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

Size-Control Regulation during Regeneration

Functional regeneration of organs upon injury is a key process for animals survival. Contrary to humans, some vertebrates are remarkably competent in regenerating after acute organ or appendage lesions. This advantageous skill allows overcoming limitations in repair even in adult stages, when tissues are fully developed, via a process of epimorphic regeneration. One such organism is the zebrafish, which can regenerate several organs, namely its heart, retina, spinal cord and fins. (...)

História e memória. Estudo sobre as sociedades de Lunda e Cokve de Angola

O tema “Memória, Identidade e História, estudo sobre as sociedades Lunda e Cokwe”, surgiu como resultado de um tempo de trabalho, com a obra monumental de Henrique Dias de Carvalho, viajante português que, no século XIX, empreendeu uma viagem de exploração pelo interior de Angola, destinada ao estabelecimento e assinatura de protocolos com os povos de Malanje à Lunda e que se realizou entre 1884 e 1887. Uma primeira abordagem dos textos deste viajante português dentro dos princípios da teoria do texto, em busca da sua literariedade, da qual resultou uma dissertação de mestrado, obrigou a deixar de lado um repositório de informações sobre a história de sociedades referidas. Assim procurou-se, agora, estudar as sociedades lunda e cokwe (quioca na etnografia colonial), seus desenvolvimentos internos e suas reacções ao modelo de exploração mineiro em marcha desde 1907. Uma grande parte do esforço foi mobilizado em torno da investigação dos fenómenos culturais do fazer e refazer de identidades para permitir a compreensão das diferenças sociais, políticas, económicas e outras assumidas por estes povos e sobre eles projectada, durante um período histórico que se alarga ao século XIX e se fixa com mais detalhe nas primeiras décadas do século XX., com a descoberta dos primeiros diamantes e a modificação profunda dos vários actores das sociedades em presença, facto que se apresenta consolidado na década de quarenta do século XIX. Procurou-se seguir e dar conta das diferentes manifestações que assumiram estas sociedades enquanto entidades autónomas e suas originalidades na produção do político, do económico e social. O trabalho segue as transformações do antigo Império Lunda, designação que a historiografia consagra e discute) importante para a compreensão da maioria das sociedades históricas da África Central antes e depois da colonização. Três impérios coloniais traçaram fronteiras, modos de exploração e assimilação sobre sociedades que se reclamam de uma origem mítica comum. Reconhece-se que a produção do conhecimento se faz do cruzamento de múltiplas fontes e por isso se fez recurso da história oral na busca dos traços mais importantes do passado distante e da relação que cada indivíduo estabelece com a ideia de império, fronteira, poder colonial. Socorremo-nos do suporte teórico de várias disciplinas para percorrer o caminho da história, da memória e das formulações identitárias que constituem suporte e referência para a maioria dos entrevistados.

Photochemical control of rheology

The main objective of the research work developed in the framework of this PhD thesis was the preparation and development of novel photorheological fluids. This was pursued following two distinct strategies. The first one focused on the synthesis of tripodal compounds functionalized with photodimerizable moieties of cinnamic acid, coumarin and anthracene. Two sets of compounds were prepared, varying the central unit as well as spacers resulting in molecules with different solubilities and molecular weight. All compounds were characterized towards their photochemical properties and all exhibited photoreactivity upon irradiation with ultra-violet light. In particular, both coumarin derivatives exhibited the greatest photopolymerization reactivity, resulting in the formation of dendrimeric nanoparticles or in the increase of viscosity of organic solutions. The second strategy was focused on the careful design of photosensitive ionic liquids, based on the results of several quantitative structure-property relationship studies. Thus, photosensitive ionic liquids were synthesized bearing cinnamic acid or coumarin moieties in the organic cation. Upon irradiation, all compounds exhibited reactivity, which resulted in changes in their physical properties, such as melting point or viscosity. In addition, novel coumarin chromophores with different photophysical and photochemical properties were developed. It is expected that these compounds may find application in the preparation of new photosensitive ionic liquids.

Control system for actuation and sensing in digital microfluidics devices

Digital Microfluidics (DMF) is a second generation technique, derived from the conventional microfluidics that instead of using continuous liquid fluxes, it uses only individual droplets driven by external electric signals. In this thesis a new DMF control/sensing system for visualization, droplet control (movement, dispensing, merging and splitting) and real time impedance measurement have been developed. The software for the proposed system was implemented in MATLAB with a graphical user interface. An Arduino was used as control board and dedicated circuits for voltage switching and contacts were designed and implemented in printed circuit boards. A high resolution camera was integrated for visualization. In our new approach, the DMF chips are driven by a dual-tone signal where the sum of two independent ac signals (one for droplet operations and the other for impedance sensing) is applied to the electrodes, and afterwards independently evaluated by a lock-in amplifier. With this new approach we were able to choose the appropriated amplitudes and frequencies for the different proposes (actuation and sensing). The measurements made were used to evaluate the real time droplet impedance enabling the knowledge of its position and velocity. This new approach opens new possibilities for impedance sensing and feedback control in DMF devices.

AGNI: an API for the control of automomous service robots

With the continuum growth of Internet connected devices, the scalability of the protocols used for communication between them is facing a new set of challenges. In robotics these communications protocols are an essential element, and must be able to accomplish with the desired communication. In a context of a multi-­‐‑agent platform, the main types of Internet communication protocols used in robotics, mission planning and task allocation problems will be revised. It will be defined how to represent a message and how to cope with their transport between devices in a distributed environment, reviewing all the layers of the messaging process. A review of the ROS platform is also presented with the intent of integrating the already existing communication protocols with the ServRobot, a mobile autonomous robot, and the DVA, a distributed autonomous surveillance system. This is done with the objective of assigning missions to ServRobot in a security context.

O direito de exoneração do acionista minoritário

This study specifically addresses the situation of minority shareholders after the transfer of control in an listed company. The various underlying interests and reasons that shareholders have for investing in a company can demonstrate shareholders’ reasoning for taking radically different positions on issues relating to the transfer of control of the referred company. This study analyses the current legal system in Portugal and in the European Union in order to assess whether, in the event of a takeover bid of a listed company where there is a transfer of control, minority shareholders have the same appraisal rights as other shareholders to sell their shares and leave the company. The study then examines the European Court of Justice decision on whether a general principle of equal treatment of minority shareholders exists upon a transfer of control (Audiolux) and the Portuguese Securities Market Commission decision regarding the delisting of Brisa - Autoestradas de Portugal, S.A. based on the principle of investor protection. The study concludes that although the principle of equality amongst shareholders has made progress in the European legal system e.g. it is laid down in Directive 2004/25/EC of 21 April 2004 on takeover bids and the Portuguese Securities Market Code, there is also a need for further improvement, which can be accomplished by allowing minority shareholders to exercise an appraisal right in similar unregulated situations.

The influence of menopausal status on bone turnover and disease control in breast cancer patients with metastatic bone disease treated with chemotherapy plus zoledronic acid : an exploratory retrospective cohort study

RESUMO: Introdução: Uma meta-análise recente demonstrou que uso adjuvante de ácido zoledrónico (AZ) em mulheres pós-menopáusicas com cancro da mama precoce (CM) conduz a redução do risco de morte por CM em 17%. Investigámos o efeito do estado hormonal (pré [PrM] vs pós-menopausa tardia [PoM]) na remodelação óssea e controlo de doença em mulheres com CM e metástases ósseas (MO) tratadas com AZ e quimioterapia (QT). Métodos: Neste estudo de coorte retrospetivo, colhemos variáveis clinico-patológicas e quantificámos o telopéptido N-terminal (NTX) urinário e marcadores tumorais (MT) séricos em mulheres com CM e MO tratadas com QT e AZ. As doentes foram divididas em PrM (<45 anos) e PoM (>60 anos). Endpoints do estudo: variação do NTX, CA15.3 e CEA nos meses 3, 6 e 9, tempo até falência de QT de primeira-linha e sobrevivência. Quando apropriado foram usados os testes de Wilcoxon rank-sum, modelo de efeitos lineares mistos, teste log-rank e modelo de Cox. Resultados: Quarenta doentes foram elegíveis para análise (8 PrM e 32 PoM). Depois da introdução de AZ e QT, os níveis de NTX e MT caíram no coorte global. O perfil de resposta não diferiu entre grupos no mês 3 ou em tempos posteriores (valor-p para interação tempo-estado hormonal no mês 3=0.957). Ademais, o perfil de resposta dos MT também não diferiu entre grupos. O tempo mediano até falência de primeira-linha de QT em PrM e PoM foi de 15.2 e 17.4 meses, respetivamente. Não foi identificada diferença significativa entre grupos, quer em análise univariada quer após controlo para envolvimento visceral (p=0.399 e 0.469, respetivamente). Igualmente, não houve diferenças em termos de sobrevivência. Conclusões: Neste coorte, não foram identificadas diferenças no controlo de NTX ou MT em função do estado menopausico. Igualmente, não foi identificada diferença no tempo até falência de primeira-linha de CT ou sobrevivência.----------- ABSTRACT: Background: A recent meta-analysis showed that the adjuvant use of zoledronic acid (ZA) in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer (BC) leads to a reduction in the risk of breast cancer death by 17%. We investigated the effect of the hormonal status (pre [PrM] vs late post menopause [PoM]) on bone turnover and disease control among women with BC and boné metastases (BM) treated with ZA and chemotherapy (CT). Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we collected clinicopathologic variables, urinary Nterminal telopeptide (NTX) and serum tumor marker levels from women with BC and BM treated with CT and ZA. Patients were divided in PrM (<45 years) and PoM (>60 years). Study endpoints were NTX, CA15.3 and CEA variation at 3, 6 and 9 months, and time to first-line CT failure and survival. We performed multilevel mixed-effects linear regression models to assess the variation of repeated measures and cox regression models for time to event outcomes. Results: Forty patients were eligible for analysis (8 PrM and 32 PoM). After introduction of ZA and CT, NTX and tumor markers declined in the overall cohort. Response profile was similar between menopausal groups at month 3 and at later time points (p-value for time-hormonal status interaction at month 3=0.957). Furthermore, tumor markers response profile was also equal between groups. Median time to first-line CT failure in PrM and PoM women was 15.2 and 17.4 months, respectively. No significant difference between groups was found, either using a univariate analysis or after controlling for visceral disease involvement (p=0.399 and 0.469, respectively). Likewise, no differences in survival were found. Conclusions: In this cohort, no differences were found in terms of NTX or tumor markers control according to menopausal status. Similarly, no difference in time to first-line CT failure or survival was found.