Environmental Decision-making utilizing a Web GIS to Monitor Hazardous Industrial Emissions in the Valencian community of Spain

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

BIWiki - Using a Business Intelligence Wiki to Form a Virtual Community of Practice for Portuguese Master's Students

Web 2.0 software in general and wikis in particular have been receiving growing attention as they constitute new and powerful tools, capable of supporting information sharing, creation of knowledge and a wide range of collaborative processes and learning activities. This paper introduces briefly some of the new opportunities made possible by Web 2.0 or the social Internet, focusing on those offered by the use of wikis as learning spaces. A wiki allows documents to be created, edited and shared on a group basis; it has a very easy and efficient markup language, using a simple Web browser. One of the most important characteristics of wiki technology is the ease with which pages are created and edited. The facility for wiki content to be edited by its users means that its pages and structure form a dynamic entity, in permanent evolution, where users can insert new ideas, supplement previously existing information and correct errors and typos in a document at any time, up to the agreed final version. This paper explores wikis as a collaborative learning and knowledge-building space and its potential for supporting Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoPs). In the academic years (2007/8 and 2008/9), students of the Business Intelligence module at the Master's programme of studies on Knowledge Management and Business Intelligence at Instituto Superior de Estatistica e Gestao de Informacao of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, have been actively involved in the creation of BIWiki - a wiki for Business Intelligence in the Portuguese language. Based on usage patterns and feedback from students participating in this experience, some conclusions are drawn regarding the potential of this technology to support the emergence of VCoPs; some provisional suggestions will be made regarding the use of wikis to support information sharing, knowledge creation and transfer and collaborative learning in Higher Education.

Usefulness of zebrafish model to assess glomerular and tubular alterations induced by tenofovir

Tenofovir (TFV) is one of the most used antiretroviral drugs. However, it is associated with tubular damage with mitochondria as a possible target. Tubulopathy precedes glomerular dysfunction, thus classic markers of renal function like the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) do not detect early TFV damage. Prediction and management of drug induced renal injury (DIRI) rely on the mechanisms of the drug insult and in optimal animal models to explore it. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) offers unique advantages for assessing DIRI, since the pronephros is structurally very similar to its human counterpart and is fully developed at 3.5 days postfertilization. The main aim of the present work was to evaluate the effects of TFV, as well as its pro-drug, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), on the GFR and in mitochondria morphology in tubular cells of zebrafish larvae. Lethality curves were performed to understand the relationship between drug concentration and lethality. LC10 was selected to explore the renal function using the FITC-inulin assay and to analyze the mitochondrial toxicity by electron microscopy on larvae exposed to TDF, TFV, paracetamol and gentamicin (positive controls) or water (negative control). Lethality curves showed that gentamicin was the most lethal drug, followed by TDF, TFV and paracetamol. Gentamicin and paracetamol decreased the GFR, but no differences were found for either TDF or TFV, when compared to controls (%FITC Control = 33±8; %FITC TDF = 35±10; %FITC TFV = 30±10; %FITC Gentamicin = 46±17; %FITC Paracetamol = 83±14). Tubular mitochondria from treated larvae were notably different from non-treated larvae, showing swelling, irregular shapes, decreased mitochondria network, cristae disruption and loss of matrix granules. These results are in agreement with the effects of these drugs in humans and thus, demonstrate that zebrafish larvae can be a good model to assess the functional and structural damage associated with DIRI.

Impacts of climate change scenarios on terrestrial productivity and biomass for energy in the Iberian Peninsula: assessment through the JSBACH model

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

Transitional dynamics of an endogenous growth model with an erosion effect

The convergence features of an Endogenous Growth model with Physical capital, Human Capital and R&D have been studied. We add an erosion effect (supported by empirical evidence) to this model, and fully characterize its convergence properties. The dynamics is described by a fourth-order system of differential equations. We show that the model converges along a one-dimensional stable manifold and that its equilibrium is saddle-path stable. We also argue that one of the implications of considering this “erosion effect” is the increase in the adherence of the model to data.

A model to screen and improve business potential of micro and small enterprises in developing countries: Evidence from the Island of Mozambique

Programmes supporting micro and small enterprises in developing countries have been showing that capital is not enough to allow business success: survival and growth. Literature does not provide comprehensive and practical tool to support business development in this context, but allowed the collection of forty-nine success variables that were studied in a sample of successful and unsuccessful businesses in the Island of Mozambique to discover what were the key factors affecting those businesses’ performance. Empirical data gave the insights for the development of a model to screen and improve business potential of micro and small enterprises in this context.