Probabilistic models for mechanical properties of prestressing strands

This study focus on the probabilistic modelling of mechanical properties of prestressing strands based on data collected from tensile tests carried out in Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC), Portugal, for certification purposes, and covers a period of about 9 years of production. The strands studied were produced by six manufacturers from four countries, namely Portugal, Spain, Italy and Thailand. Variability of the most important mechanicalproperties is examined and the results are compared with the recommendations of the ProbabilisticModel Code, as well as the Eurocodes and earlier studies. The obtained results show a very low variability which, of course, benefits structural safety. Based on those results, probabilistic modelsfor the most important mechanical properties of prestressing strands are proposed.

Non-linear time series models

The last three decades have seen quite dramatic changes the way we modeled time dependent data. Linear processes have been in the center stage in modeling time series. As far as the second order properties are concerned, the theory and the methodology are very adequate.However, there are more and more evidences that linear models are not sufficiently flexible and rich enough for modeling purposes and that failure to account for non-linearities can be very misleading and have undesired consequences.

A score test for non-nested hypotheses with applications to discrete data models

This paper suggests that a convenient score test against non-nested alternatives can be constructed from the linear combination of the likelihood functions of the competing models. It is shown that this procedure is essentially a test for the correct specification of the conditional distribution of the variable of interest.

Tuple-based morphisms for interoperability establishment of financial information models

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e Computadores

Landslide susceptibility assessment in Karanganyar regency - Indonesia - Comparison of knowledge-based and Data-driven Models

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

Algorithm for the Parkinson’s disease behavioural models characterization using a biosensor

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Biomédica

Development of novel human cellular models for neurotoxicity studies

Dissertation to obtain master degree in Genética Molecular e Biomedicina

Formation of a stable cyano-bridged dinuclear iron cluster following oxidation of the superoxide reductases from Treponema pallidum and Desulfovibrio vulgaris with K(3)Fe(CN)(6)

Inorg. Chem., 2003, 42 (4), pp 938–940 DOI: 10.1021/ic0262886

Analysis of mental health service financial models with a particular emphasis of Ireland

ABSTRACT: Financing is a critical factor in ensuring the optimal development and delivery of a mental health system. The primary method of financing worldwide is tax-based. However many low income countries depend on out-of-pocket payments. There is a report on Irish Health Care funding but none that deals exclusively with mental health care. This paper analyses the various financial models that exist globally with respect to financing the mental health sector, examines the impact of various models on service users, especially in terms of relative ‘financial burden’ and provides a more detailed examination of the current mental health funding situation in Ireland After extensive internet and hardcopy research on the above topics, the findings were analysed and a number of recommendations were reached. Mental health service should be free at the point of delivery to achieve universal coverage. Government tax-based funding or mandatory social insurance with government top-ups, as required, appears the optimal option, although there is no one funding system applicable everywhere. Out-of-pocket funding can create a crippling financial burden for service users. It is important to employ improved revenue collection systems, eliminate waste, provide equitable resource distribution, ring fence mental health funding and cap the number of visits, where necessary. Political, economic, social and cultural factors play a role in funding decisions and this can be clearly seen in the context of the current economic recession in Ireland. Only 33% of the Irish population has access to free public health care and the number health insurance policy holders has dramatically declined, resulting in increased out-of-pocket payments. This approach risks negatively impacting on the social determinants of health, increasing health inequalities and negatively affecting economic productivity. It is therefore important the Irish government examines other options to provide funding for mental health services.

Empirical models for quantification of machining damage in composite materials

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Mecânica

Spatio-temporal analyses of the relationship between armed conflict and climate change in the eastern Africa

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

Derivation and consistency checking of models in early software product line engineering

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Informática

Internationalization strategy: HOLOS Mobile - Angola

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

Business models in the portuguese football clubs

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

The influence of burden of care and perceived stigma on expressed emotions of relatives of stable persons with schizophrenia in Nigerian semi-urban/urban settings

RESUMO: Schizophrenia’s burden defines experience of family members and is associated with high level of distress. Courtesy stigma, a distress concept, worsens caregivers’ burden of care and impacts on schizophrenia. Expressed emotion (EE), another family variable, impacts on schizophrenia. However, relationship between EE, burden of care and stigma has been little explored in western literature but not in sub-Saharan Africa particularly Nigeria. This study explored the impact of burden of care and courtesy stigma on EE among caregivers of persons with schizophrenia in urban and semi-urban settings in Nigeria. Fifty caregivers each from semi-urban and urban areas completed a socio-demographic schedule, family questionnaire, burden interview schedule and perceived devaluation and discrimination scale. The caregivers had a mean age of 42 (± 15.6) years. Majority were females (57%), married (49%), from Yoruba ethnic group (68%), monogamous family (73%) and Christians (82%). A higher proportion of the whole sample (53%) had tertiary education. Three out of ten were sole caregivers. Seventy three (73%) lived with the person they cared for. The average number of hours spent per week by a caregiver with a person with schizophrenia was 35 hours. The urban sample had significantly higher proportion of carers with high global expressed emotion (72.7%) than the semi-urban sample (27.3%). The odds of a caregiver in an urban setting exhibiting high expressed emotion are 4.202 times higher than the odds of caregiver in a semi-urban setting. Additionally, there was significance difference between the urban and semi-urban caregivers in discrimination dimension. High levels of subjective and objective burden were associated with high levels of critical comments. In conclusion, this study is the first demonstration of urban-semi-urban difference in expressed emotion in an African country and its findings provide further support to hypothesized relationship between components of EE and burden of care.