Innovative methodologies for the enhancement of the flexural strengthening performance of NSM CFRP technique for RC beams

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia Civil

A relational algebra approach to ETL modeling

The MAP-i Doctoral Programme in Informatics, of the Universities of Minho, Aveiro and Porto

Dependable decentralized storage management for cloud computing

The MAP-i Doctoral Program of the Universities of Minho, Aveiro and Porto.

Combining analytical methodologies for the identification of Aspergillus section Flavi strains isolated from Brazilian agricultural commodities

The use of chemical analysis of microbial components, including proteins, became an important achievement in the 80’s of the last century to the microbial identification. This led a more objective microbial identification scheme, called chemotaxonomy, and the analytical tools used in the field are mainly 1D/2D gel electrophoresis, spectrophotometry, high-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, and combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The Edman degradation reaction was also applied to peptides sequence giving important insights to the microbial identification. The rapid development of these techniques, in association with knowledge generated by DNA sequencing and phylogeny based on rRNA gene and housekeeping genes sequences, boosted the microbial identification to an unparalleled scale. The recent results of mass spectrometry (MS), like Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation Time-of-Flight (MALDI-TOF), for rapid and reliable microbial identification showed considerable promise. In addition, the technique is rapid, reliable and inexpensive in terms of labour and consumables when compared with other biological techniques. At present, MALDI-TOF MS adds an additional step for polyphasic identification which is essential when there is a paucity of characters or high DNA homologies for delimiting very close related species. The full impact of this approach is now being appreciated when more diverse species are studied in detail and successfully identified. However, even with the best polyphasic system, identification of some taxa remains time-consuming and determining what represents a species remains subjective. The possibilities opened with new and even more robust mass spectrometers combined with sound and reliable databases allow not only the microbial identification based on the proteome fingerprinting but also include de novo specific proteins sequencing as additional step. These approaches are pushing the boundaries in the microbial identification field.

The importance of the category of consciousness and education for sustainability in methodologies for eco‐efficiency in school buildings

This document reports the importance of the category of consciousness and education for sustainability in the school environment. Education in school has a potential to make the benefits of the building construction visible for society and media, showing to the students, parents and communities how sustainability in built environment could improve the people life in economic, social and environment aspects. Thus, this paper addresses the main events related to sustainability, such as the Stockholm Conference, the Brundtland report, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and Agenda 21, until reaching the necessity of the elaboration of Methodologies for environmental assessment of building, and later, the development of the specific methodologies according to the buildings. It is also described some examples of sustainability in schools in Germany, Finland and Italy and what kind of sustainable systems those countries are currently using.

An assessment of chronic kidney diseases

Kidney renal failure means that one’s kidney have unexpectedlystoppedfunctioning,i.e.,oncechronicdiseaseis exposed, the presence or degree of kidney dysfunction and its progression must be assessed, and the underlying syndrome has to be diagnosed. Although the patient’s history and physical examination may denote good practice, some key information has to be obtained from valuation of the glomerular filtration rate, and the analysis of serum biomarkers. Indeed, chronic kidney sickness depicts anomalous kidney function and/or its makeup, i.e., there is evidence that treatment may avoid or delay its progression, either by reducing and prevent the development of some associated complications, namely hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular complications. Acute kidney injury appears abruptly, with a rapiddeteriorationoftherenalfunction,butisoftenreversible if it is recognized early and treated promptly. In both situations, i.e., acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease, an early intervention can significantly improve the prognosis. The assessment of these pathologies is therefore mandatory, although it is hard to do it with traditional methodologies and existing tools for problem solving. Hence, in this work, we will focus on the development of a hybrid decision support system, in terms of its knowledge representation and reasoning procedures based on Logic Programming, that will allow onetoconsiderincomplete,unknown,and evencontradictory information, complemented with an approach to computing centered on Artificial Neural Networks, in order to weigh the Degree-of-Confidence that one has on such a happening. The present study involved 558 patients with an age average of 51.7 years and the chronic kidney disease was observed in 175 cases. The dataset comprise twenty four variables, grouped into five main categories. The proposed model showed a good performance in the diagnosis of chronic kidney disease, since the sensitivity and the specificity exhibited values range between 93.1 and 94.9 and 91.9–94.2 %, respectively.

An evaluation of parchments' degradation a hybrid approach

Parchment stands for a multifaceted material made from animal skin, which has been used for centuries as a writing support or as bookbinding. Due to the historic value of objects made of parchment, understanding their degradation and their condition is of utmost importance to archives, libraries and museums, i.e., the assessment of parchment degradation is mandatory, although it is hard to do with traditional methodologies and tools for problem solving. Hence, in this work we will focus on the development of a hybrid decision support system, in terms of its knowledge representation and reasoning procedures, under a formal framework based on Logic Programming, complemented with an approach to computing centered on Artificial Neural Networks, to evaluate Parchment Degradation and the respective Degree-of-Confidence that one has on such a happening.

Immersiveness of ubiquitous computing environments prototypes: A case study

The development of ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) environments raises several challenges in terms of their evaluation. Ubicomp virtual reality prototyping tools enable users to experience the system to be developed and are of great help to face those challenges, as they support developers in assessing the consequences of a design decision in the early phases of development. Given the situated nature of ubicomp environments, a particular issue to consider is the level of realism provided by the prototypes. This work presents a case study where two ubicomp prototypes, featuring different levels of immersion (desktop-based versus CAVE-based), were developed and compared. The goal was to determine the cost/benefits relation of both solutions, which provided better user experience results, and whether or not simpler solutions provide the same user experience results as more elaborate one.

Using one-year claim development to chose a large claim reserving technique

Mestrado em Ciências Actuariais

Filososofía y Ciencia Computacional: Aspectos epistemológicos, ontológicos y metodológicos. Philosophy and Computing Sciencs: Epistemological, Ontological and Methodological Aspects.

Uno de los temas centrales del proyecto concierne la naturaleza de la ciencia de la computación. La reciente aparición de esta disciplina sumada a su origen híbrido como ciencia formal y disciplina tecnológica hace que su caracterización aún no esté completa y menos aún acordada entre los científicos del área. En el trabajo Three paradigms of Computer Science de A. Eden, se presentan tres posiciones admitidamente exageradas acerca de como entender tanto el objeto de estudio (ontología) como los métodos de trabajo (metodología) y la estructura de la teoría y las justificaciones del conocimiento informático (epistemología): La llamada racionalista, la cual se basa en la idea de que los programas son fórmulas lógicas y que la forma de trabajo es deductiva, la tecnocrática que presenta a la ciencia computacional como una disciplina ingenieril y la ahi llamada científica, la cual asimilaría a la computación a las ciencias empíricas. Algunos de los problemas de ciencia de la computación están relacionados con cuestiones de filosofía de la matemática, en particular la relación entre las entidades abstractas y el mundo. Sin embargo, el carácter prescriptivo de los axiomas y teoremas de las teorías de la programación puede permitir interpretaciones alternativas y cuestionaría fuertemente la posibilidad de pensar a la ciencia de la computación como una ciencia empírica, al menos en el sentido tradicional. Por otro lado, es posible que el tipo de análisis aplicado a las ciencias de la computación propuesto en este proyecto aporte nuevas ideas para pensar problemas de filosofía de la matemática. Un ejemplo de estos posibles aportes puede verse en el trabajo de Arkoudas Computers, Justi?cation, and Mathematical Knowledge el cual echa nueva luz al problema del significado de las demostraciones matemáticas.Los objetivos del proyecto son: Caracterizar el campo de las ciencias de la computación.Evaluar los fundamentos ontológicos, epistemológicos y metodológicos de la ciencia de la computación actual.Analizar las relaciones entre las diferentes perspectivas heurísticas y epistémicas y las practicas de la programación.

Desarrollo de metodologias de propagación y cultivo de plantas nativas de Córdoba con potencialornamental. Development of propagation and cultivation methodologies of native plants of Córdoba withornamental potential.

El problema: La flora nativa de Córdoba, actualmente amenazada, es rica en especies con potencial ornamental que todavía no se cultivan. El uso de estas plantas está limitado por la escasez de material biológico, la falta de conocimientos de su propagación y su insuficiente valoración pública. Hipótesis: La propagación y el cultivo de una amplia gama de plantas nativas cordobesas con potencial ornamental son técnicamente factibles y tienen potencial productivo y económico. Objetivo: Promover el uso de especies nativas ornamentales en la provincia de Córdoba. Objetivos específicos: 1. Desarrollar metodologías de propagación y cultivo de especies nativas con potencial ornamental; 2. Transferir estas metodologías a viveros privados y públicos; 3. Difundir los conocimientos obtenidos a instituciones educativas. Métodos: 1- Colección: Se realizarán viajes de campo para obtener semillas o esquejes de al menos 6 especies nativas seleccionadas. Las semillas se limpiarán y se conservarán en frío. 2- Propagación: En la primavera se sembrarán 100 semillas por especie, accesión y tratamiento; se registrará porcentaje y tiempo de germinación. Los plantines se trasplantarán a almácigos, se registrará supervivencia y crecimiento. Para la propagación vegetativa, se trasplantarán esquejes de estolones directamente a macetas. 3- Trasplante: En verano, los plantines se trasplantarán a macetas grandes; se registrará supervivencia y crecimiento durante un año. 4- Documentación: Se elaborarán protocolos de las metodologías adecuadas para la propagación de las especies, usos ornamentales y características relevantes. 5- Transferencia: Los protocolos, muestras de semillas y de plantas, se transferirán a dos viveros que se comprometan a continuar con el cultivo de las especies. 6- Difusión: Se realizarán cursos, talleres, charlas y pasantías para dar a conocer la propagación de plantas nativas en instituciones educativas, desde la primaria hasta la universidad. Resultados y productos esperados: 1- Protocolos de propagación de al menos 6 especies nativas ornamentales y su transferencia a viveros, como base de una actividad productiva novedosa. 2- Un aporte a la conservación ex situ y el uso sostenible de la flora nativa. 3- Una mayor valoración de esta en la comunidad educativa. Importancia: 1- Desarrollo de la producción de plantas nativas con valor ornamental, como una alternativa económica. 2- Conservación ex situ y uso sostenible de la flora nativa. 3- Difusión del conocimiento del valor ornamental de las nativas. 4. Información científica de la biología y ecología de especies nativas. Pertinencia: Productos (ver Resultados). El impacto inmediato esperado es un aumento en la propagación, la producción, la demanda, la comercialización y el uso de plantas ornamentales nativas. Se espera también la generación de nuevos conocimientos y el estímulo de líneas de investigación biológicas y agronómicas.

monitoring-based approach to object-oriented real-time computing

Monitoring, object-orientation, real-time, execution-time, scheduling

Plataforma Computing@home

En este proyecto se han visto dos sistemas de computación distribuida diferentes entre ellos: Condor y BOINC. Se exploran las posibilidades para poder conseguir que ambos sistemas logren trabajar conjuntamente, escogiendo la parte más efectiva de cada uno de los sistemas con el fin de complementarse.

News Shocks and Business Cycles: Bridging the Gap from Different Methodologies

An important disconnect in the news driven view of the business cycle formalized by Beaudry and Portier (2004), is the lack of agreement between different—VAR and DSGE—methodologies over the empirical plausibility of this view. We argue that this disconnect can be largely resolved once we augment a standard DSGE model with a financial channel that provides amplification to news shocks. Both methodologies suggest news shocks to the future growth prospects of the economy to be significant drivers of U.S. business cycles in the post-Greenspan era (1990-2011), explaining as much as 50% of the forecast error variance in hours worked in cyclical frequencies