Metodologia de análise da patologia de fachadas de edifícios recentes com sistema ETICS

Ao percorrermos as cidades portuguesas, deparámo-nos frequentemente com fachadas de edifícios muito degradadas, não só de edifícios antigos, mas também de edifícios recentes (construção edificada a partir do início da década de 70). A presença de anomalias nas fachadas, para além de ser esteticamente desagradável na paisagem urbana, pode também potenciar a degradação prematura da envolvente vertical dos edifícios, deixando estas de desempenhar satisfatoriamente as funções de impermeabilidade e eficiência térmica. Tem-se assistido nas últimas décadas em Portugal, não só a uma evolução das técnicas construtivas das fachadas face à crescente exigência da qualidade dos edifícios, mas também a uma crescente utilização de novos revestimentos, nomeadamente, o sistema de isolamento térmico pelo exterior, conhecido pela sigla inglesa ETICS (External Thermal Insulation Composite System) e designado por “revestimento delgado armado sobre isolante”. O principal objectivo da presente dissertação consiste no desenvolvimento e aplicação de uma proposta de metodologia para análise da patologia de fachadas de edifícios recentes com sistema ETICS, que gradualmente tem vindo a implantar-se em Portugal como uma das soluções de carácter inovador de isolamento térmico e de protecção higrométrica da envolvente vertical opaca dos edifícios.

The three-loop SSM beta-functions

We present the supersymmetric standard model three-loop beta-functions for gauge and Yukawa couplings and consider the effect of three-loop corrections on the standard running coupling analyses.

Projectos estratégicos: o controlo orçamental - estudo da construção de redes de nova geração por parte da Zon

O objectivo deste trabalho foi o de descrever a forma como muitas empresas seleccionam os projectos que são implementados, sobretudo os seus projectos estratégicos, dando principal enfoque à forma como procederam ao seu controlo orçamental. Como tal, tentámos explorar e explicar, quais as componentes necessárias para a análise de um investimento, abordando a temática dos projectos de investimento estratégicos da empresa e a sua relação com a estratégia definida a curto prazo, assim como no médio e longo prazo. Após a selecção do projecto a implementar, é necessário um controlo da sua execução, de forma a poder controlar os custos e a rentabilizar de forma eficiente os recursos disponibilizados, na execução do investimento. Para isso, abordámos de seguida a função do controlador de gestão, a importância de elaborar o orçamento e o controlo orçamental. Após estas fases, analisamos os relatórios de controlo mais usuais. Depois da revisão da literatura, estudámos dois dos investimentos estratégicos efectuados pela ZON nos últimos anos, para tornar a sua rede, numa rede de nova geração. Esses investimentos são a construção de rede de acesso FTTH e o projecto ZON IN. Foi possível demonstrar a importância estratégica de ambos os projectos, sendo que não se conseguiu demonstrar a importância do controlo orçamental.

Does diaphragmatic breathing technique really improve its range of motion? An objective assessment

Purpose - To verify the results of a diaphragmatic breathing technique (DBT) on diaphragmatic range of motion in healthy subjects. Methods - A total of 51 healthy subjects (10 male; 41 female), mean age 20 years old and a body mass index (BMI) ranging from 15.6 to 34.9 kg/m2, were enrolled in this study. Diaphragmatic range of motion was assessed by M-mode ultrasound imaging. Measurements were made before and after the DBT implementation in a standard protocol, based on 3 seconds of inspiration starting from a maximum expiration. Differences between assessments were analyzed by descriptive statistics and t-test (p < 0.05). Results - Mean value range of motion before DBT was 55.3 ± 13.4 mm and after DBT was 63.8 ± 13.2 mm showing a significant improvement of 8.5 ± 14.7 mm (p < 0.001). A strong correlation between the slope and the range of motion was found (r = 0.71, p < 0.001). Conclusions - Based on ultrasound measurements, it has been proved that DBT really contributes to a higher diaphragmatic range of motion. Future studies are needed in order to understand the influence of protocol parameters (e.g. inspiration time). Clinical implications - In the contest of evidence-based practice in physiotherapy, it has been showed by objective measurements that DBT improves the diaphragm range of motion, translating into a more efficient ventilatory function and thus can be used in clinical setting. To our knowledge this is the first study to assess the effects of DBT on range of motion of diaphragm muscle with ultrasound imaging.

Entropy diversity in multi-objective particle swarm optimization

Multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) is a search algorithm based on social behavior. Most of the existing multi-objective particle swarm optimization schemes are based on Pareto optimality and aim to obtain a representative non-dominated Pareto front for a given problem. Several approaches have been proposed to study the convergence and performance of the algorithm, particularly by accessing the final results. In the present paper, a different approach is proposed, by using Shannon entropy to analyzethe MOPSO dynamics along the algorithm execution. The results indicate that Shannon entropy can be used as an indicator of diversity and convergence for MOPSO problems.

Aplicação prática dos pilares da gestão numa fundação: melhoria de processos e procedimentos

Mestrado em Controlo de Gestão e dos Negócios

José Saramago e os jornais: os anos de 1968 a 1975

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Jornalismo.

A gestão orçamental como instrumento de avaliação do desempenho e apoio à decisão - o caso da Associação WavEC

Mestrado em Contabilidade

A multi-objective approach for the motion planning of redundant manipulators

Kinematic redundancy occurs when a manipulator possesses more degrees of freedom than those required to execute a given task. Several kinematic techniques for redundant manipulators control the gripper through the pseudo-inverse of the Jacobian, but lead to a kind of chaotic inner motion with unpredictable arm configurations. Such algorithms are not easy to adapt to optimization schemes and, moreover, often there are multiple optimization objectives that can conflict between them. Unlike single optimization, where one attempts to find the best solution, in multi-objective optimization there is no single solution that is optimum with respect to all indices. Therefore, trajectory planning of redundant robots remains an important area of research and more efficient optimization algorithms are needed. This paper presents a new technique to solve the inverse kinematics of redundant manipulators, using a multi-objective genetic algorithm. This scheme combines the closed-loop pseudo-inverse method with a multi-objective genetic algorithm to control the joint positions. Simulations for manipulators with three or four rotational joints, considering the optimization of two objectives in a workspace without and with obstacles are developed. The results reveal that it is possible to choose several solutions from the Pareto optimal front according to the importance of each individual objective.

Probability distribution functions

This technical report describes the PDFs which have been implemented to model the behaviours of certain parameters of the Repeater-Based Hybrid Wired/Wireless PROFIBUS Network Simulator (RHW2PNetSim) and Bridge-Based Hybrid Wired/Wireless PROFIBUS Network Simulator (BHW2PNetSim).

Regional governance: strategies and disputes in health region management

OBJECTIVE To analyze the regional governance of the health systemin relation to management strategies and disputes.METHODOLOGICAL PROCEDURES A qualitative study with health managers from 19 municipalities in the health region of Bahia, Northeastern Brazil. Data were drawn from 17 semi-structured interviews of state, regional, and municipal health policymakers and managers; a focus group; observations of the regional interagency committee; and documents in 2012. The political-institutional and the organizational components were analyzed in the light of dialectical hermeneutics.RESULTS The regional interagency committee is the chief regional governance strategy/component and functions as a strategic tool for strengthening governance. It brings together a diversity of members responsible for decision making in the healthcare territories, who need to negotiate the allocation of funding and the distribution of facilities for common use in the region. The high turnover of health secretaries, their lack of autonomy from the local executive decisions, inadequate technical training to exercise their function, and the influence of party politics on decision making stand as obstacles to the regional interagency committee’s permeability to social demands. Funding is insufficient to enable the fulfillment of the officially integrated agreed-upon program or to boost public supply by the system, requiring that public managers procure services from the private market at values higher than the national health service price schedule (Brazilian Unified Health System Table). The study determined that “facilitators” under contract to health departments accelerated access to specialized (diagnostic, therapeutic and/or surgical) services in other municipalities by direct payment to physicians for procedure costs already covered by the Brazilian Unified Health System.CONCLUSIONS The characteristics identified a regionalized system with a conflictive pattern of governance and intermediate institutionalism. The regional interagency committee’s managerial routine needs to incorporate more democratic devices for connecting with educational institutions, devices that are more permeable to social demands relating to regional policy making.

Penalty fuzzy function for derivative-free optimization

Penalty and Barrier methods are normally used to solve Nonlinear Optimization Problems constrained problems. The problems appear in areas such as engineering and are often characterised by the fact that involved functions (objective and constraints) are non-smooth and/or their derivatives are not know. This means that optimization methods based on derivatives cannot net used. A Java based API was implemented, including only derivative-free optimizationmethods, to solve both constrained and unconstrained problems, which includes Penalty and Barriers methods. In this work a new penalty function, based on Fuzzy Logic, is presented. This function imposes a progressive penalization to solutions that violate the constraints. This means that the function imposes a low penalization when the violation of the constraints is low and a heavy penalisation when the violation is high. The value of the penalization is not known in beforehand, it is the outcome of a fuzzy inference engine. Numerical results comparing the proposed function with two of the classic penalty/barrier functions are presented. Regarding the presented results one can conclude that the prosed penalty function besides being very robust also exhibits a very good performance.

Formal caregivers of older adults: reflection about their practice

OBJECTIVE To understand the job function of caregivers of older adults and contribute to the debate on the consolidation of this professional practice. METHODOLOGICAL PROCEDURES This is a descriptive, qualitative, and exploratory study. Four focal group sessions were performed in 2011 with 11 elderly companions, formal caregivers of older adults in the Programa Acompanhante de Idosos (Program for Caregivers of Older Adults), Sao Paulo, SP, Southeastern Brazil. These sessions, guided by a semi-structured script, were audio-recorded and fully transcribed. Data were analyzed using the Content Analysis technique, Thematic Modality. RESULTS In view of considering the caregivers of older adults as a new category of workers, it was difficult to define their duties. The elderly companions themselves as well as the care receivers, their families, and the professionals that comprised the team were unclear about their duties. The professional practice of these formal caregivers has been built on the basis of constant discussions and negotiations among them and other team members in Programa Acompanhante de Idosos during daily work. This was achieved via a recognition process of their job functions and by setting apart other workers’ exclusive responsibilities. CONCLUSIONS The delimitation of specific job functions for elderly companions is currently one of the greatest challenges faced by these workers to develop and consolidate their professional role as well as improve Programa Acompanhante de Idosos.

Direct search optimization application programming interface with remote access

Search Optimization methods are needed to solve optimization problems where the objective function and/or constraints functions might be non differentiable, non convex or might not be possible to determine its analytical expressions either due to its complexity or its cost (monetary, computational, time,...). Many optimization problems in engineering and other fields have these characteristics, because functions values can result from experimental or simulation processes, can be modelled by functions with complex expressions or by noise functions and it is impossible or very difficult to calculate their derivatives. Direct Search Optimization methods only use function values and do not need any derivatives or approximations of them. In this work we present a Java API that including several methods and algorithms, that do not use derivatives, to solve constrained and unconstrained optimization problems. Traditional API access, by installing it on the developer and/or user computer, and remote API access to it, using Web Services, are also presented. Remote access to the API has the advantage of always allow the access to the latest version of the API. For users that simply want to have a tool to solve Nonlinear Optimization Problems and do not want to integrate these methods in applications, also two applications were developed. One is a standalone Java application and the other a Web-based application, both using the developed API.

Improvement of a filters method in a derivative free optimization

Constraints nonlinear optimization problems can be solved using penalty or barrier functions. This strategy, based on solving the problems without constraints obtained from the original problem, have shown to be e ective, particularly when used with direct search methods. An alternative to solve the previous problems is the lters method. The lters method introduced by Fletcher and Ley er in 2002, , has been widely used to solve problems of the type mentioned above. These methods use a strategy di erent from the barrier or penalty functions. The previous functions de ne a new one that combine the objective function and the constraints, while the lters method treat optimization problems as a bi-objective problems that minimize the objective function and a function that aggregates the constraints. Motivated by the work of Audet and Dennis in 2004, using lters method with derivative-free algorithms, the authors developed works where other direct search meth- ods were used, combining their potential with the lters method. More recently. In a new variant of these methods was presented, where it some alternative aggregation restrictions for the construction of lters were proposed. This paper presents a variant of the lters method, more robust than the previous ones, that has been implemented with a safeguard procedure where values of the function and constraints are interlinked and not treated completely independently.