Melhoria do processo produtivo na indústria do mobiliário

Com o aumento da concorrência, a crise económica que atravessamos e com a conquista de novos mercados no horizonte, surge a necessidade de responder a essas situações com uma melhor prestação do sistema produtivo no sentido de reduzir tempos de produção e de baixar os custos dos mesmos, podendo assim dar uma resposta mais rápida e competitiva às expectativas dos clientes. Esta dissertação tem como objectivo analisar todo o sistema produtivo da empresa, desenvolvendo um estudo adequado ao sistema actual de fabrico de mobiliário, propondo melhorias que proporcionem uma melhor organização e uma redução dos custos de fabrico. Fez-se também um levantamento do sistema de planeamento existente, detectando pontos de melhoria que, para além de um maior controlo e organização, permitem, em alguns aspectos, a melhoria do sistema produtivo. Foi apresentada uma proposta de um processo de reengenharia aplicado ao sistema produtivo, tendo em vista implementar as medidas de melhoria, indo ao encontro das situações identificadas, tornando assim o sistema produtivo mais eficiente.

Transfering data from a server to an Android Mobile application: a case study

Nowadays, due to the incredible grow of the mobile devices market, when we want to implement a client-server applications we must consider mobile devices limitations. In this paper we discuss which can be the more reliable and fast way to exchange information between a server and an Android mobile application. This is an important issue because with a responsive application the user experience is more enjoyable. In this paper we present a study that test and evaluate two data transfer protocols, socket and HTTP, and three data serialization formats (XML, JSON and Protocol Buffers) using different environments and mobile devices to realize which is the most practical and fast to use.

Enoxacin inhibits growth of prostate cancer cells and effectively restores microRNA processing

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most incident malignancies worldwide. Although efficient therapy is available for early-stage PCa, treatment of advanced disease is mainly ineffective and remains a clinical challenge. microRNA (miRNA) dysregulation is associated with PCa development and progression. In fact, several studies have reported a widespread downregulation of miRNAs in PCa, which highlights the importance of studying compounds capable of restoring the global miRNA expression. The main aim of this study was to define the usefulness of enoxacin as an anti-tumoral agent in PCa, due to its ability to induce miRNA biogenesis in a TRBP-mediated manner. Using a panel of five PCa cell lines, we observed that all of them were wild type for the TARBP2 gene and expressed TRBP protein. Furthermore, primary prostate carcinomas displayed normal levels of TRBP protein. Remarkably, enoxacin was able to decrease cell viability, induce apoptosis, cause cell cycle arrest, and inhibit the invasiveness of cell lines. Enoxacin was also effective in restoring the global expression of miRNAs. This study is the first to show that PCa cells are highly responsive to the anti-tumoral effects of enoxacin. Therefore, enoxacin constitutes a promising therapeutic agent for PCa.

Real-time fieldbus communications using Profibus networks

This paper provides a comprehensive study on how to use Profibus fieldbus networks to support real-time industrial communications, that is, on how to ensure the transmission of real-time messages within a maximum bound time. Profibus is base on a simplified timed token (TT) protocol, which is a well-proved solution for real-time communication systems. However, Profibus differs with respect to the TT protocol, thus preventing the application of the usual TT protocol real-time analysis. In fact, real-time solutions for networks based on the TT protocol rely on the possibility of allocating specific bandwidth for the real-time traffic. This means that a minimum amount of time is always available, at each token visit, to transmit real-time messages, transversely, with the Profibus protocol, in the worst case, only one real-time message is processed per token visit. The authors propose two approaches to guarantee the real-time behavior of the Profibus protocol: (1) an unconstrained low-priority traffic profile; and (2) a constrained low-priority traffic profile. The proposed analysis shows that the first profile is a suitable approach for more responsive systems (tighter deadlines), while the second allows for increased nonreal-time traffic throughput

Development of biocompatible and “smart” porous structures using CO2-assisted processes

Dissertação apresentada para a obtenção do grau de Doutor em Engenharia Química, especialidade Engenharia da Reacção Química, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

O impacto da variação do preço na procura de cuidados de saúde

RESUMO - Assiste-se a um crescimento exponencial das despesas em saúde, quer na Europa como nos Estados Unidos. Em Portugal, os gastos totais com a saúde ascenderam a 10,2% do PIB, em 2006, contra os 8,8% registados no início da década anterior. É importante perceber o que motiva este crescimento quer em termos globais, quer no que diz respeito ao consumo de recursos, bem como até em termos da despesa pública. Este projecto tem dois objectivos fundamentais: em primeiro lugar, contribuir para o estudo dos factores determinantes da procura de cuidados de saúde em Portugal e, consequentemente, determinar as elasticidades procura – preço para diferentes tipos de cuidados de saúde. Metodologia: Estudo observacional baseado na análise empírica de dados administrativos (claims) respeitantes à utilização dos cuidados de saúde por parte de 12.230 indivíduos detentores de um plano de seguro de saúde individual, numa seguradora privada em Portugal. As elasticidades procura – preço para os diferentes tipos de cuidados de saúde obtiveram-se utilizando as variações percentuais das quantidades dos diferentes cuidados de saúde, antes e depois da variação do preço pago pelo indivíduo, para cada tipo de cuidado de saúde. Resultados: De acordo com a teoria económica tradicional o aumento do preço a pagar reduz o consumo de cuidados de saúde, e a procura é elástica, ou seja, os valores da elasticidade procura – preço obtidos são superiores a 1, em valor absoluto, logo o aumento do preço levou a uma redução mais do que proporcional das quantidades procuradas. A procura de cuidados de saúde em ambulatório é mais sensível à variação do preço do que a procura de cuidados de internamento. ------- ABSTRACT - We are witnessing an exponential growth of health care expenditures around the world. In Portugal, the total expenditure on health amounted to 10.2% of GDP in 2006, against 8.8% at the beginning of previous decade. It is important to understand what motivates this growth both in overall terms, with respect to resource consumption, and even in terms of public spending. This study was designed two achieve two objectives: first, to contribute to the study of demand for health care and, more specifically, to analyze the effect of price changes on the utilization of health care services; and secondly, to estimate the demand elasticity for different types of heath care. Methodology: Observational study based on empirical analysis of administrative data (claims) from a private health insurance Company in Portugal. The sample used had information regarding 12.230 individuals. Demand elasticity for the different types of health care services was obtained by the quotient between the percentage changes in the quantity of health care services, before and after the change in the price paid by the corresponding percentage change in the price. Results: This study showed that, for all medical services, price increases were associated with reductions in the quantity of care consumed as predicted by neoclassical demand theory, and we are in the presence of an elastic demand. This means that price elasticity is greater than 1 in absolute value so the increase in the price led to a more than proportional reduction in the quantity demanded. Demand elasticity was more responsive to changes in the price of specialist and emergency care than to changes in the price of inpatient care.

Temperature-induced structural transitions in self-assembling magnetic nanocolloids

With the help of a unique combination of density functional theory and computer simulations, we discover two possible scenarios, depending on concentration, for the hierarchical self-assembly of magnetic nanoparticles on cooling. We show that typically considered low temperature clusters, i.e. defect-free chains and rings, merge into more complex branched structures through only three types of defects: four-way X junctions, three-way Y junctions and two-way Z junctions. Our accurate calculations reveal the predominance of weakly magnetically responsive rings cross-linked by X defects at the lowest temperatures. We thus provide a strategy to fine-tune magnetic and thermodynamic responses of magnetic nanocolloids to be used in medical and microfluidics applications.

Simple and stable dynamic traffic engineering for provider scale ethernet

Trabalho apresentado no âmbito do Mestrado em Engenharia Informática, como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

Server to Mobile Device Communication: A Case Study

Develop a client-server application for a mobile environment can bring many challenges because of the mobile devices limitations. So, in this paper is discussed what can be the more reliable way to exchange information between a server and an Android mobile application, since it is important for users to have an application that really works in a responsive way and preferably without any errors. In this discussion two data transfer protocols (Socket and HTTP) and three serialization data formats (XML, JSON and Protocol Buffers) were tested using some metrics to evaluate which is the most practical and fast to use.

Development of thermoresponsive (polysulfone/polyacrylonitrile) - based membranes for bioseparation processes

Mestrado integrado em Engenharia Química e Bioquímica

Development of a piezoelectric biosensor based on PVDF films

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Química e Bioquímica

Task partitioning and priority assignment for distributed hard real-time systems

In this paper, we propose the Distributed using Optimal Priority Assignment (DOPA) heuristic that finds a feasible partitioning and priority assignment for distributed applications based on the linear transactional model. DOPA partitions the tasks and messages in the distributed system, and makes use of the Optimal Priority Assignment (OPA) algorithm known as Audsley’s algorithm, to find the priorities for that partition. The experimental results show how the use of the OPA algorithm increases in average the number of schedulable tasks and messages in a distributed system when compared to the use of Deadline Monotonic (DM) usually favoured in other works. Afterwards, we extend these results to the assignment of Parallel/Distributed applications and present a second heuristic named Parallel-DOPA (P-DOPA). In that case, we show how the partitioning process can be simplified by using the Distributed Stretch Transformation (DST), a parallel transaction transformation algorithm introduced in [1].

Potential Therapeutic Effects of Physical Exercise for Bipolar Disorder

Cognitive deficits are observed in a variety of domains in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). These deficits are attributed to neurobiological, functional and structural brain factors, particularly in prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, cortical alterations in each phase (mania/hypomania, euthymia and depression) are also present. A growing basis of evidence supports aerobic exercise as an alternative treatment method for BD symptoms. Its benefits for physical health in healthy subjects and some psychiatric disorders are fairly established; however evidence directly addressed to BD is scant. Lack of methodological consistency, mainly related to exercise, makes it difficult accuracy and extrapolation of the results. Nevertheless, mechanisms related to BD physiopathology, such as hormonal and neurotransmitters alterations and mainly related to brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNF) can be explored. BDNF, specially, have a large influence on brain ability and its gene expression is highly responsive to aerobic exercise. Moreover, aerobic exercise trough BDNF may induce chronic stress suppression, commonly observed in patients with BD, and reduce deleterious effects caused by allostatic loads. Therefore, it is prudent to propose that aerobic exercise plays an important role in BD physiopathological mechanisms and it is a new way for the treatment for this and others psychiatric disorders.

Primary Disorders of Neurotransmitter Metabolism: Experience of a Tertiary Center

Neurotransmitter diseases are a group of inherited disorders attributable to a disturbance of neurotransmitter metabolism. Biogenic amines are neurotransmitters with multiple roles including psychomotor function, hormone secretion, cardiovascular, respiratory and gastrointestinal control, sleep mechanisms, body temperature and pain. Given the multiple functions of monoamines, disorders of their metabolism comprise a wide spectrum of manifestations, with motor dysfunction being the most prominent clinical feature. Methods: Case review of 12 patients from 4 families, with primary disorders of biogenic amine metabolism. Results: Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency (4 patients from 2 families), and GTP-cyclohydrolase (8 patients from 2 families) were the two diseases identified. Age at first symptoms varied between 2 months and 6 years. Developmental delay was present in all cases except 2 patients with GTP cyclohydrolase deficiency. The combination of axial hypotonia and limb dystonia was also frequent. Children with aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency exhibited temperature instability, oculogyric crisis and disturbances of sleep. The index case of one family with GTP cyclohydrolase deficiency presented with Parkinsonism (bradykinesia, rigidity and hypomimia). Analysis of neurotransmitters and their metabolites in CSF was crucial for the identification of index cases. Response to therapy was variable but in general unsatisfactory except in a family with GTP cyclohydrolase deficiency. Conclusions: These disorders should be considered in the differential diagnosis of paediatric neurodegenerative diseases, in order to allow an adequate therapeutic trial that can favor prognosis.

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.