Integration of Membrane Filtration and Photolysis Processes for Drinking Water Treatment

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D degree in Engineering and Technology Sciences, Chemical Engineering.

Analysis and implementation of a multi-ratio switched capacitor DC-DC converter for a supercapacitor power supply

An energy harvesting system requires an energy storing device to store the energy retrieved from the surrounding environment. This can either be a rechargeable battery or a supercapcitor. Due to the limited lifetime of rechargeable batteries, they need to be periodically replaced. Therefore, a supercapacitor, which has ideally a limitless number of charge/discharge cycles can be used to store the energy; however, a voltage regulator is required to obtain a constant output voltage as the supercapacitor discharges. This can be implemented by a Switched-Capacitor DC-DC converter which allows a complete integration in CMOS technology, although it requires several topologies in order to obtain a high efficiency. This thesis presents the complete analysis of four different topologies in order to determine expressions that allow to design and determine the optimum input voltage ranges for each topology. To better understand the parasitic effects, the implementation of the capacitors and the non-ideal effect of the switches, in 130 nm technology, were carefully studied. With these two analysis a multi-ratio SC DC-DC converter was designed with an output power of 2 mW, maximum efficiency of 77%, and a maximum output ripple, in the steady state, of 23 mV; for an input voltage swing of 2.3 V to 0.85 V. This proposed converter has four operation states that perform the conversion ratios of 1/2, 2/3, 1/1 and 3/2 and its clock frequency is automatically adjusted to produce a stable output voltage of 1 V. These features are implemented through two distinct controller circuits that use asynchronous time machines (ASM) to dynamically adjust the clock frequency and to select the active state of the converter. All the theoretical expressions as well as the behaviour of the whole system was verified using electrical simulations.

Direct electrochemistry of the Desulfovibrio gigas aldehyde oxidoreductase

Eur. J. Biochem. 271, 1329–1338 (2004)

Viewpoints and goals: towards an integrated approach

Dissertação de Mestrado em Engenharia Informática

Direct torque control em máquinas assíncronas

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

An Ethos Theory of Party Positions on European Integration: Poland and Beyond

Since 1989, five parliamentary elections have been the stage for the foundation and demise of political parties aspiring to govern the new democratic Polish state. The demise of the AWS before the 2001 elections after ten years of attempts to create a centre-right core party resulted in a new splintering of the right-wing, and the centre-right became again devoid of a pivotal formation. While Eurosceptic parties in average gain 8 percent of the vote, in the 2001 Polish parliamentary elections Eurosceptic parties gained around 20 percent of the vote. In Poland right-wing parties show an unusual propensity for Euroscepticism. The persistence and increased importance of nationalism in Poland, which has prevented the development of a strong Christian democratic party, effectively explains the levels of Euroscepticism on the right. After the autumn 2005 parliamentary elections the national conservative party, Law and Justice, formed a governing coalition with the national Catholic League of Polish Families, creating one of the first Eurosceptic governments. Although this work does not intend to provide a theorisation of party systems development, it shows that the context of European integration fostered nationalists’ divisiveness of, and provoked the splitting of the right the unusual propensity of parties for Euroscepticism makes Poland a paradigmatic case of the kind of conflicts over European integration emerging in Central and Eastern European party systems.

Estudo descritivo do perfil de utilizador da linha Saúde 24 com análise de impacto ao nível da eficiência, equidade e empowerment em comparação com o modelo inglês NHS Direct

RESUMO - A 8 de Maio de 2008 surgiu o centro de atendimento “Linha Saúde24” (S24) no sentido de modernizar o SNS, aproximando-o do cidadão. O serviço surge baseado no modelo inglês – o NHS Direct – que pode ser encarado como um serviço de informação telefónico apoiado por enfermeiros, disponível 24h por dia, concebido para expandir os serviços púbicos de acesso à rede prestadora de cuidados com intuito de aliviar a pressão da procura na rede de urgências hospitalares e médicos de família, assim como diluir as iniquidades regionais na prestação de serviços. A S24 assenta na perspectiva de ser um ponto de contacto inicial do utente com a rede de prestação de cuidados de saúde com capacidade de orientação. O objectivo da linha está na tentativa mais eficiente no uso dos recursos disponíveis, ao mesmo tempo que delega responsabilidade no cidadão na forma como este utiliza os recursos disponíveis, com melhor racionalização financeira na área da saúde aliada a uma melhor qualidade de serviço prestada e adequada, colocando os cidadãos no mesmo patamar, diluindo as dificuldades de acesso a aqueles que necessitam na tentativa de harmonizar e racionalizar o consumo de serviços de saúde. Esta estrutura permite ao cidadão conhecer melhor o seu estado de saúde e decidir mais acertadamente quanto à decisão a tomar. Com este estudo, e com base na literatura nacional e internacional, pretende-se descrever o perfil de utilizador que acede à S24 – definir o tipo de utilizador, disposição geográfica, motivos pelo qual acede ao serviço e qual o seu destino final, fazendo comparação com o perfil do NHS Direct. Assim, e com os dados obtidos, far-se-á uma avaliação preliminar em termos do contributo da linha S24 no que concerne à sua eficiência, equidade e empowerment dado ao utilizador. --- ------------------------------ABSTRACT - Saúde 24 (S24) is a national 24-hour health line initiated in May 2008 aiming at modernizing the Portuguese NHS by bringing it closer to the citizen. Indeed, S24 be seen as an initial contact point between the patient and the healthcare network, facilitating a better a management of health care demand. The service is inspired on the UK NHS Direct – a nurse-led telephone line to provide easier and faster advice information to people about health, illness and NHS services. It is expected to provide information so that people can deal with their health problems or their families´ on their own, with the purpose of reducing demand to A&E department and out-of-hours GP services. Additionally it can contribute to a reduction in regional inequities in healthcare provision through bringing health care advice to remote areas. The purpose of S24 is to handle more efficiently the available resources by enabling responsibilities in citizens. By doing so, S24 encourages a more appropriate use of available resources, with better financial outcomes and a better quality of care. It is meant, in terms of empowerment, to help people to be in control of their health and healthcare interactions by participating in the final decision. Based on quantitative data, this study defines the S24 caller user profile in terms of type, geographical reference, reasons for calling and outcome. This analysis allows us to perform a preliminary evaluation of the S24 in terms of its contribution to efficiency, equity and empowerment. Then the S24 is compared to

Transparent oxide thin-film transistors: production, characterization and integration

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Nanotechnologies and Nanosciences by Universidade Nova de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Iberian peninsula ecosystem carbon fluxes: a model-data integration study

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

Integration of forest fire management with SDI: user requirements.

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

Synthesis of biodiesel from wastes of food industry via direct transesterification with methanol/carbon dioxide mixtures

Dissertation presented at Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia from Universidade Nova de Lisboa to obtain the degree of Master in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

An integration bridge for heterogeneous e-service environments

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

Integration of sediment contamination with multi–biomarker responses in a novel bioindicator candidate (Sepia officinalis) for risk assessment in impacted estuaries

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente

Integration of crowdsourced information with traditional crises and disaster management information using linked data

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

Design and implementation of 3D buildings integration for a Webgl-Based Virtual Globe: a case study of Valencian Cadastre and Fide Building Mode

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