Viabilidade Técnica e Económica das Diferentes Tecnologias de Microprodução

Sabendo que as energias de origem fóssil não são inesgotáveis e que afetam a qualidade do ambiente, nos últimos anos, o interesse pelas energias renováveis mereceu a atenção de ambientalistas e de governantes. Para diminuir a importação de energia, o próprio governo de Portugal incentivou, através de medidas legislativas diversas, a instalação de sistemas alternativos de produção elétrica. Face à pertinência desta matéria, a dissertação, Viabilidade Técnica e Económica das Diferentes Tecnologias de Microprodução, aborda o aproveitamento de energias renováveis através de tecnologias de Microprodução ligadas à rede elétrica. Nesta dissertação, numa primeira fase, apresentam-se os sistemas de microprodução existentes no mercado, descrevem-se os componentes que os constituem e destacam-se os aspetos legislativos aplicáveis. Numa segunda fase, com o objetivo de suportar a elaboração de uma ferramenta informática para apoio na escolha de equipamentos de microprodução, procede-se à análise financeira de tecnologias de microprodução, indicando os modelos matemáticos necessários. Um dos objetivos da dissertação, consiste na construção de uma ferramenta informática de cálculo e na sua aplicação a dois estudos de caso. Esse programa informático foi elaborado em Excel e é capaz de fornecer uma estimativa da produção de energia anual e da avaliação da viabilidade técnico-económica de cada tecnologia e pretende apoiar a decisão do investidor em tecnologias de microprodução. Tendo sido realizados dois estudos de caso - um edifício habitacional unifamiliar e um edifício Industrial – foi possível verificar o funcionamento da aplicação e a sua utilidade na determinação da solução mais vantajosa na escolha de uma tecnologia de microprodução, uma vez que, introduzidos os dados adequados, são gerados os cálculos que permitem fornecer uma visão de conjunto, possibilitando a comparação das diferentes propostas.

Analysis of Synaptic Proteins in the Cerebrospinal Fluid as a New Tool in the Study of Inborn Errors of Neurotransmission

Abstract In a few rare diseases, specialised studies in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are required to identify the underlying metabolic disorder. We aimed to explore the possibility of detecting key synaptic proteins in the CSF, in particular dopaminergic and gabaergic, as new procedures that could be useful for both pathophysiological and diagnostic purposes in investigation of inherited disorders of neurotransmission. Dopamine receptor type 2 (D2R), dopamine transporter (DAT) and vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 (VMAT2) were analysed in CSF samplesfrom 30 healthy controls (11 days to 17 years) by western blot analysis. Because VMAT2 was the only protein with intracellular localisation, and in order to compare results, GABA vesicular transporter, which is another intracellular protein, was also studied. Spearman’s correlation and Student’s t tests were applied to compare optical density signals between different proteins. All these synaptic proteins could be easily detected and quantified in the CSF. DAT, D2R and GABA VT expression decrease with age, particularly in the first months of life, reflecting the expected intense synaptic activity and neuronal circuitry formation. A statistically significant relationship was found between D2R and DAT expression, reinforcing the previous evidence of DAT regulation by D2R. To our knowledge, there are no previous studies on human CSF reporting a reliable analysis of these proteins. These kinds of studies could help elucidate new causes of disturbed dopaminergic and gabaergic transmission as well as understanding different responses to L-dopa in inherited disorders affecting dopamine metabolism. Moreover, this approach to synaptic activity in vivo can be extended to different groups of proteins and diseases.

Estudo de um equipamento de processamento de soldaduras por Friction Stir Welding

Este é um projeto I&D interno do INEGI, com as unidades DPS e LOME, que tem em vista a utilização de componentes disponíveis no INEGI para o estudo de um equipamento capaz de efetuar soldaduras por Friction Stir Welding. O equipamento já conta com controlo numérico para um sistema de três eixos e os respetivos motores, ficando assim encarregue de tirar o máximo proveito possível destes componentes. Este equipamento terá como finalidade munir o INEGI com um equipamento capaz de dar resposta a eventuais projetos externos/internos bem como para fins de investigação para a melhoria da qualidade do processo de soldadura. A conceção deste equipamento tem a particularidade das condições envolventes do processo nomeadamente os esforços desenvolvidos durante o processo de soldadura, em particular a força vertical (eixo da ferramenta) que é necessária fazer de forma a evitar a ascensão de material da junta de soldadura. A soldadura por Friction Stir Welding, é um processo de soldadura relativamente actual, desenvolvido em 1991 por Wayne Thomas pelo The Welding Institute que se sobrepõe aos métodos de soldadura convencionais, uma vez que não necessita de levar o/os materiais acima da sua temperatura de fusão, sendo um processo de soldadura no estado solido, o material não chega a fundir. Este processo consiste na utilização de uma ferramenta em rotação que que se desloca ao longo da junta de soldadura, que uma vez a fricção gerada entre a ferramenta e o material base gera calor que promove o aquecimento e quase fusão do material base. A ligação do material dá-se aquando a passagem da ferramenta na junta, misturando os materiais. Com o recurso a este método de fabrico é possível efetuar soldaduras com grande qualidade em materiais considerados de difícil soldabilidade pelos métodos convencionais, como por exemplo o Alumínio. Neste projecto foram estudadas varias soluções, contactados vários fornecedores e com o seu feedback foi desenvolvido o equipamento. Este projecto consiste essencialmente na análise estrutural e selecção de equipamentos. O equipamento final resultou de uma série de iterações e ideias de forma a optimizar toda estrutura para a magnitude dos esforços envolvidos, obtendo no final um equipamento capaz de cumprir os requisitos. No final prevêse um equipamento com a capacidade de suportar esforços verticais de 50

Sistema de apoio à decisão para o reaprovisionamento intercontinental

Este estudo foi desenvolvido em contexto empresarial e apresenta o levantamento de uma oportunidade de melhoria conjunta nos processos de gestão de stocks, compras e logística com o objetivo de otimizar a seleção e envio dos artigos com necessidade de reposição. O caso de estudo apresentado neste documento retrata o circuito logístico entre uma empresa sediada em Angola e outra em Portugal. A primeira dedica-se à venda por grosso e a retalho que é fornecida pela segunda, onde também está concentrada a gestão de aprovisionamento. Integrando uma sociedade menos desenvolvida como Angola, a delicadeza e complexidade dos problemas associam-se à incerteza, tornando um ambiente propício para a identificação e implantação de melhorias nos processos de decisão, colmatando a dependência de apoio em sistemas e serviços externos. Com uma logística de abastecimento intercontinental, a seleção e envio de mercadoria é uma preocupação dos gestores, uma vez que o tempo de fornecimento é longo e poderá afetar a performance das vendas caso seja uma decisão não sustentada. Com o foco no apoio à decisão, desenvolveu-se uma ferramenta que incorpora os detalhes da atividade empresarial que permite selecionar os artigos para reposição, maximizando o seu potencial valor de vendas.

Tradução, Adaptação e Validação da Escala Jones Dependency Tool

A avaliação do grau de dependência dos utentes é um dos aspectos que contribui para a melhoria dos cuidados, dado que permite uma melhor adequação dos recursos humanos às situações vivenciadas no quotidiano dos serviços de urgência. A carga de trabalho em enfermagem está estreitamente relacionada com o grau de dependência, pelo que a sua avaliação assume-se como um elemento fundamental numa politica de gestão de qualidade. Com o intuito de avaliar, numa fase inicial, o grau de dependência dos utentes que recorrem aos serviços de urgência foi criada uma escala – Jones Dependency Tool (JDT) – sendo que o objectivo major é a avaliação da carga de trabalho em Enfermagem relacionando com o grau de dependência dos utentes. O presente estudo visa traduzir, adaptar e validar para Portugal o referido instrumento. O estudo encontra-se dividido em duas partes. A primeira constituída pela tradução e adaptação cultural da JDT para língua portuguesa e a segunda, pela análise da fidelidade e da validade do instrumento. O processo de validação para a língua portuguesa ocorreu numa amostra de 129 utentes de dois serviços de urgência da região de lisboa. Através dos testes estatísticos realizados, a versão Portuguesa revelou-se um instrumento confiável e válido para a realização do grau de dependência dos utentes que recorrem ao serviço de urgência.

ISEGI-NOVA AR Project - Augmented Reality Aplied to the Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Project work presented as a partial requirement to obtain a Master Degree in Information Management

Diagnosic Classification: Results from a Clinical Experience of Three Years with DC: 0–3

Infancy and early childhood are characterized by a dynamic and ever changing process. Since the beginning of their clinical work at the Infancy Unit, the authors were concerned with individual assessment and the questions about the role played by parents as well as by babies in pathology and intervention.In this article, the authors begin with a description of the path that led them to the selection of DC 0–3 as a diagnostic classification system and how this has been instrumental in helping them to better define infant psychopathology and guide them in treatment orientations. Next, they present the results of the applicationof Axis I and II of DC: 0–3 in their clinical population in the years 1997, 1998, and 1999. The objectives of this study were to learn more about the distribution of mental disorders in a clinical population up tofour years of age. The authors attempted to separate infants at risk for developing psychic disorders from those presenting current psychopathology as well as the possible influence of demographic features on this distribution, to define a target population and design adapted therapeutic measures. The identification of these objectives provides the rationale for the use of a diagnostic tool, like DC: 0–3, which is essential to plan clinical activity, to evaluate therapeutic efficacy, and to develop specific programs.

Segregated modeling and selection of populations for polyhydroxyalkanoate production by mixed microbial cultures

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

Selection of a co-operation agreement between EMOVE – Innovative Technologies and WavEC – Wave Energy Center

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

Web-assisted tobacco intervention in Portuguese : intentions to make behavioural changes and behavioural changes

ABSTRACT - The problem of how to support “intentions to make behavioural changes” (IBC) and “behaviour changes” (BC) in smoking cessation when there is a scarcity of resources is a pressing issue in public health terms. The present research focuses on the use of information and communications technologies and their role in smoking cessation. It is developed in Portugal after the ratification of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (on 8 November 2005). The prevalence of smokers over fifteen years of age within the population stood at 20.9% (30.9% for men and 11.8% for women). While the strategy of helping people to quit smoking has been emphasised at National Health Service (NHS) level, the uptake of cessation assistance has exceeded the capacity of the service. This induced the search of new theoretical and practical venues to offer alternative options to people willing to stop smoking. Among these, the National Health Plan (NHP) of Portugal (2004-2010), identifies the use of information technologies in smoking cessation. eHealth and the importance of health literacy as a means of empowering people to make behavioural changes is recurrently considered an option worth investigating. The overall objective of this research is to understand, in the Portuguese context, the use of the Internet to help people to stop smoking. Research questions consider factors that may contribute to “intentions to make behavioural changes” (IBC) and “behavioural changes” (BC) while using a Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP). Also consideration is given to the trade-off on the use of the Web as a tool for smoking cessation: can it reach a vast number of people for a small cost (efficiency) demonstrating to work in the domain of smoking cessation (efficacy)”? In addition to the introduction, there is a second chapter in which the use of tobacco is discussed as a public health menace. The health gains achieved by stopping smoking and the means of quitting are also examined, as is the use of the Internet in smoking cessation. Then, several research issues are introduced. These include background theory and the theoretical framework for the Sense of Coherence. The research model is also discussed. A presentation of the methods, materials and of the Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP) follows. In chapter four the results of the use of the Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP) are presented. This study is divided into two sections. The first describes results related to quality control in relation to the Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP) and gives an overview of its users. Of these, 3,150 answered initial eligibility questions. In the end, 1,463 met all eligibility requirements, completed intake, decided on a day to quit smoking (Dday) and declared their “intentions to make behavioural changes” (IBC) while a second targeted group of 650 did not decide on a Dday. With two quit attempts made before joining the platform, most of the participants had experienced past failures while wanting to stop. The smoking rate averaged 21 cigarettes per day. With a mean age of 35, of the participants 55% were males. Among several other considerations, gender and the Sense of Coherence (SOC) influenced the success of participants in their IBC and endeavour to set quit dates. The results of comparing males and females showed that, for current smokers, establishing a Dday was related to gender differences, not favouring males (OR=0.76, p<0.005). Belonging to higher Socio-economic strata (SES) was associated with the intention to consider IBC (when compared to lower SES condition) (OR=1.57, p<0.001) and higher number of school years (OR=0.70, p<0.005) favoured the decision to smoking cessation. Those who demonstrated higher confidence in their likelihood of success in stopping in the shortest time had a higher rate of setting a Dday (OR=0.51, p<0.001). There were differences between groups in IBC reflecting the high and low levels of the SOC score (OR=1.43, p=0.006), as those who considered setting a Dday had higher levels of SOC. After adjusting for all variables, stages of readiness to change and SOC were kept in the model. This is the first Arm of this research where the focus is a discussion of the system’s implications for the participants’ “intentions to make behavioural changes” (IBC). Moreover, a second section of this study (second Arm) offers input collected from 77 in-depth interviews with the Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP) users. Here, “Behaviour Change” (BC) and the usability of the platform are explored a year after IBC was declared. A percentage of 32.9% of self-reported, 12-month quitters in continuous abstinence from smoking from Dday to the 12-month follow- up point of the use of the Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP) has been assessed. Comparing the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scores of participants by their respective means, according to the two groups, there was a significant difference in these scores of non smokers (BC) (M=144,66, SD=22,52) and Sense of Coherence (SOC) of smokers (noBC) (M=131,51, SD=21,43) p=0.014. This WATIP strategy and its contents benefit from the strengthening of the smoker’s sense of coherence (SOC), so that the person’s progress towards a life without tobacco may be experienced as comprehensible, manageable and meaningful. In this sample the sense of coherence (SOC) effect is moderate although it is associated with the day to quit smoking (Dday). Some of the limitations of this research have to do with self-selection bias, sample size (power) and self-reporting (no biochemical validation). The enrolment of participants was therefore not representative of the smoking population. It is not possible to verify the Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP) evaluation of external validity; consequently, the results obtained cannot be applied generalized. No participation bias is provided. Another limitation of this study is the associated limitations of interviews. Interviewees’ perception that fabricating answers could benefit them more than telling the simple truth in response to questions is a risk that is not evaluated (with no external validation like measuring participants’ carbon monoxide levels). What emerges in this analysis is the relevance of the process that leads to the establishment of the quit day (Dday) to stop using tobacco. In addition, technological issues, when tailoring is the focus, are key elements for scrutiny. The high number of dropouts of users of the web platform mandates future research that should concentrate on the matters of the user-centred design of portals. The focus on gains in health through patient-centred care needs more research, so that technology usability be considered within the context of best practices in smoking cessation.

Market selection and market entry recommendations for a non-profit organization's first international venture

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 FML (Fucose Mannose Ligand) of Leishmania donovani: a new tool in diagnosis, prognosis, transfusional control and vaccination against human kala-azar

The Fucose-Mannose Ligand (FML) of Leishmania donovani is a complex glycoproteic fraction. Its potential use as a tool for diagnosis of human visceral leishmaniasis was tested with human sera from Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The FML-ELISA test, showed 100% sensitivity and 96% specificity, identifying patients with overt kala-azar (p < 0.001, when compared to normal sera), and subjects with subclinical infection. More than 20% apparently healthy subjects with positive reaction to FML developed overt kala-azar during the following 10 months. In the screening of human blood donnors, a prevalence of 5% of sororeactive subjects was detected, attaining 17% in a single day. The GP36 glycoprotein of FHL is specifically reconized by human kala-azar sera. The immunoprotective effect of FML on experimental L. donovanii infection was tested in swiss albino mice. The protection scheemes included three weekly doses of FML, supplemented or not with saponin by the subcutaneous or intraperitoneal routes and challenge with 2x 10(7) amastigotes of Leishmania donovani. An enhancement of 80.0 % in antibody response (p<0.001) and reduction of 85.5 % parasite liver burden (p<0.001) was detected in animals immunized with FML saponin, unrespectivety of the immunization route.