O aprendizado organizacional na implementa????o de pol??ticas p??blicas industriais em tr??s estados nordestinos

O objetivo deste artigo ?? ampliar o conhecimento atual sobre os processos de aprendizado na implementa????o de pol??ticas p??blicas, procurando entender, em especial, os aspectos pol??ticos envolvidos nesses processos e como eles influenciam a evolu????o e os resultados dessas pol??ticas. Nesse sentido, com base em estudos de casos realizados sobre as pol??ticas industriais implementadas pelos estados da Bahia, do Cear?? e de Pernambuco nas ??ltimas d??cadas, conclui-se que o aprendizado de indiv??duos e grupos isoladamente dentro dos governos n??o parece garantir um efetivo aprendizado do governo na implementa????o de suas pol??ticas. Nos casos estudados, o aprendizado organizacional mostra-se como um processo no qual aspectos pol??ticos e cognitivos interagem sob as restri????es de arranjos institucionais espec??ficos. Esses aspectos pol??ticos tanto podem filtrar, retardar e at?? mesmo impedir a assimila????o organizacional do aprendizado de indiv??duos ou de grupos, como, outras vezes, podem aceler??-lo.

WHAT IS THE USE OF A SINGLE-CASE STUDY IN MANAGEMENT RESEARCH?

The purpose of this article is to present a defense of the use of single case studies in management research. The defense is necessary because this type of research has been relegated to a secondary role, or even rejected, by many researchers, who consider it unscientific. Evidence of this low status is the fact that most reputable academic journals in management publish few articles based on single-case studies. In this paper, we examine in detail the objections to the use of such cases in management research. We show the efforts made by some researchers to answer these objections and we show quality criteria for research that are alternatives to the criteria used in the so-called "scientific method." Our analysis suggests that a better understanding - by researchers with different methodological preferences - of the arguments for each particular use of the single-case study as a research method would allow a better dialogue between researchers and benefit management research as a whole.

Motivação e aprendizagem : um estudo centrado em alunos do 5º ano do ensino fundamental em duas Escolas públicas de Sergipe (2008-2009)

O presente estudo trata dos fatores motivacionais, cuja temática vem sendo discutida intensamente, nas últimas décadas, por pesquisadores na área de Educação e Psicologia, em virtude do aumento dos problemas relacionados à falta de motivação que influencia, negativamente, o processo de ensino e aprendizagem. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar os fatores motivacionais que estão presentes no processo de aprendizagem dos alunos do 5º ano do ensino fundamental de duas Escolas Públicas em Sergipe, sendo uma da rede estadual de ensino da capital sergipana(Aracaju); e outra da rede municipal de uma das cidades do interior sergipano (Boquim). Os sujeitos da pesquisa foram 32 alunos. O procedimento metodológico utilizado foi levantamento bibliográfico, coleta de dados através da aplicação de uma escala de motivação, entrevistas com os alunos e documentos (atas do rendimento escolar do ano de 2008). Como resultados, a pesquisa revelou maior pontuação na motivação intrínseca (MI) do que na motivação extrínseca (ME). Todavia, houve uma acentuada semelhança nos resultados de medidas centrais encontradas, e a relação com os resultados de aprendizagem foi pouco significativa.

Conceito de volume

Este estudo analisa o modo como se desenvolve a aprendizagem do conceito de volume nos alunos do 6º ano de escolaridade, no quadro de uma proposta pedagógica que dá ênfase a actividades que apelam à visualização e ao raciocínio espacial. O seu objectivo principal foi o de compreender as ideias que os alunos do 6.º ano têm sobre volume e perceber como se desenvolvem quando são envolvidos numa experiência de ensino, tendo por base uma cadeia de tarefas que apelam à visualização e ao raciocínio espacial. O estudo seguiu uma metodologia de investigação qualitativa baseada em estudos de caso. A proposta pedagógica foi desenvolvida em quatro aulas; três de noventa minutos e uma de quarenta e cinco minutos, durante os 2º e 3º períodos do ano lectivo de 2009/2010. A recolha de dados envolveu a realização de gravações áudio, em ambiente de sala de aula, dos alunos que constituíram os estudos de caso, registo de observações do desempenho dos alunos e os documentos produzidos por estes. Os resultados mostram que, ao longo da proposta pedagógica, os alunos adquiriram estratégias de contagem que lhes permitiram criar estruturas, para compreender a organização dos paralelepípedos e desenvolver o conceito de volume. iii ABSTRACT This study examines how 6th graders’ students develop the concept of volume in a learning experience context which emphasizes the visualization and spatial reasoning. The main objective of this study is to understand the ideas of 6th grade students about volume and see how they develop them when they are involved in a learning experience, based on a sequence of tasks that call for visualization and spatial reasoning. The study followed a qualitative research methodology based on case studies. The learning experience was developed in four classes, three ninety minutes period and one forty-five minutes, during the 2nd and 3rd terms of the school year 2009/2010. Data collection involved the use of audio recordings in the classroom environment, recording observations of student performance and the documents produced by them. The results showed that, over the learning experience, students acquired counting strategies that allowed them to create structures for understanding the organization of cubes arrays and develop the concept of volume.

Educational characteristics of adult students in portuguese technological schools

Despite a massive expansion of education in Portugal, since the 1970’s, educational attainment of the adult population in the country remains low. The numbers of working-age people in some form of continuing education are among the lowest, according to the OECD and EU-27 statistics. Technological Schools(TS), initially created in the 1990’s, under the umbrella of the Ministry of Economy in partnership with industry and industrial associations, aimed to prepare qualified staff for industries and services in the country, particularly in the engineering sector, through the provision of post secondary non-university programmes of studies, the CET (Technological Specialization Courses). Successful CET students are awarded a DET(Diploma of Technological Specialization), which corresponds to Vocational Qualification level IV of the EU, according to the latest alteration (2005) of the Education Systems Act (introduced in 1986). In this, CET’s are also clearly defined as one of the routes for access to Higher Education (HE), in Portugal. The PRILHE (Promoting Reflective and Independent Learning in Higher Education) multinational project, funded by the European Socrates Grundtvig Programme, aimed to identify the learning processes which enable adult students in higher education to become autonomous reflective learners and search best practices to support these learning processes. During this research, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to determine how students organise their studies and develop their learning skills. The Portuguese partner in the project’ consortium used a two case studies approach, one with students of Higher Education Institutions and other with students of TS. This paper only applies to students of TS, as these have a predominant bias towards engineering. Results show that student motivation and professional teaching support contribute equally to the development of an autonomous and reflective approach to learning in adult students; this is essential for success in a knowledge economy, where lifelong learning is the key to continuous employment.

Eastwards / westwards: which direction for gender studies in the 21st century?

Eastwards / Westwards: Which Direction for Gender Studies in the XXIst Century? is a collection of essays which focus on themes and methods that characterize current research into gender in Asian countries in general. In this collection, ideas derived from Gender Studies elsewhere in the world have been subjected to scrutiny for their utility in helping to describe and understand regional phenomena. But the concepts of Local and Global – with their discoursive productions – have not functioned as a binary opposition: localism and globalism are mutually constitutive and researchers have interrogated those spaces of interaction between the ‘self’ and the ‘other’, bearing in mind their own embeddedness in social and cultural structures and their own historical memory. Contributors to this collection provided a critical transnational perspective on some of the complex effects of the dynamics of cultural globalization, by exploring the relation between gender and development, language, historiography, education and culture. We have also given attention to the ideological and rhetorical processes through which gender identity is constructed, by comparing textual grids and patterns of expectation. Likewise, we have discussed the role of ethnography, anthropology, historiography, sociology, fiction, popular culture and colonial and post-colonial sources in (re)inventing old/new male/female identities, their conversion into concepts and circulation through time and space. This multicultural and trans-disciplinary selection of essays is totally written in English, fully edited and revised, therefore, it has a good potential for an immediate international circulation. This project may trace new paths and issues for discussion on what concerns the life, practices and narratives by and about women in Asia, as well as elsewhere in the present day global experience. Academic readership: Researchers, scholars, educators, graduate and post-graduate students, doctoral students and general non-fiction readers, with a special interest in Gender Studies, Asia, Colonial and Post-Colonial Literature, Anthropology, Cultural Studies, History, Historiography, Politics, Race, Feminism, Language, Linguistics, Power, Political and Feminist Agendas, Popular Culture, Education, Women’s Writing, Religion, Multiculturalism, Globalisation, Migration. Chapter summary: 1. “Social Gender Stereotypes and their Implication in Hindi”, Anjali Pande, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. This essay looks at the subtle ways in which gender identities are constructed and reinforced in India through social norms of language use. Language itself becomes a medium for perpetuating gender stereotypes, forcing its speakers to confirm to socially defined gender roles. Using examples from a classroom discussion about a film, this essay will highlight the underlying rigid male-female stereotypes in Indian society with their more obvious expressions in language. For the urban woman in India globalisation meant increased economic equality and exposure to changed lifestyles. On an individual level it also meant redefining gender relations and changing the hierarchy in man-­woman relationships. With the economic independence there is a heightened sense of liberation in all spheres of social life, a confidence to fuzz the rigid boundaries of gender roles. With the new films and media celebrating this liberated woman, who is ready to assert her sexual needs, who is ready to explode those long held notions of morality, one would expect that the changes are not just superficial. But as it soon became obvious in the course of a classroom discussion about relationships and stereotypes related to age, the surface changes can not become part of the common vocabulary, for the obvious reason that there is still a vast gap between the screen image of this new woman and the ground reality. Social considerations define the limits of this assertiveness of women, whereas men are happy to be liberal within the larger frame of social sanctions. The educated urban woman in India speaks in favour of change and the educated urban male supports her, but one just needs to scratch the surface to see the time tested formulae of gender roles firmly in place. The way the urban woman happily balances this emerging promise of independence with her gendered social identity, makes it necessary to rethink some aspects of looking at gender in a gradually changing, traditional society like India. 2. “The Linguistic Dimension of Gender Equality”, Alissa Tolstokorova, Kiev Centre for Gender Information and Education, Ukraine. The subject-matter of this essay is gender justice in language which, as I argue, may be achieved through the development of a gender-related approach to linguistic human rights. The last decades of the 20th century, globally marked by a “gender shift” in attitudes to language policy, gave impetus to the social movement for promoting linguistic gender equality. It was initiated in Western Europe and nowadays is moving eastwards, as ideas of gender democracy progress into developing countries. But, while in western societies gender discrimination through language, or linguistic sexism, was an issue of concern for over three decades, in developing countries efforts to promote gender justice in language are only in their infancy. My argument is that to promote gender justice in language internationally it is necessary to acknowledge the rights of women and men to equal representation of their gender in language and speech and, therefore, raise a question of linguistic rights of the sexes. My understanding is that the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights in 1996 provided this opportunity to address the problem of gender justice in language as a human rights issue, specifically as a gender dimension of linguistic human rights. 3. “The Rebirth of an Old Language: Issues of Gender Equality in Kazakhstan”, Maria Helena Guimarães, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Portugal. The existing language situation in Kazakhstan, while peaceful, is not without some tension. We propose to analyze here some questions we consider relevant in the frame of cultural globalization and gender equality, such as: free from Russian imperialism, could Kazakhstan become an easy prey of Turkey’s “imperialist dream”? Could these traditionally Muslim people be soon facing the end of religious tolerance and gender equality, becoming this new old language an easy instrument for the infiltration in the country of fundamentalism (it has already crossed the boarders of Uzbekistan), leading to a gradual deterioration of its rich multicultural relations? The present structure of the language is still very fragile: there are three main dialects and many academics defend the re-introduction of the Latin alphabet, thus enlarging the possibility of cultural “contamination” by making the transmission of fundamentalist ideas still easier through neighbour countries like Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan (their languages belong to the same sub-group of Common Turkic), where the Latin alphabet is already in use, and where the ground for such ideas shown itself very fruitful. 4. “Construction of Womanhood in the Bengali Language of Bangladesh”, Raasheed Mahmood; University of New South Wales, Sydney. The present essay attempts to explore the role of gender-based language differences and of certain markers that reveal the status accorded to women in Bangladesh. Discrimination against women, in its various forms, is endemic in communities and countries around the world, cutting across class, race, age, and religious and national boundaries. One cannot understand the problems of gender discrimination solely by referring to the relationship of power or authority between men and women. Rather one needs to consider the problem by relating it to the specific social formation in which the image of masculinity and femininity is constructed and reconstructed. Following such line of reasoning this essay will examine the nature of gender bias in the Bengali language of Bangladesh, holding the conviction that as a product of social reality language reflects the socio-cultural behaviour of the community who speaks it. This essay will also attempt to shed some light on the processes through which gender based language differences produce actual consequences for women, who become exposed to low self-esteem, depression and systematic exclusion from public discourse. 5. “Marriage in China as an expression of a changing society”, Elisabetta Rosado David, University of Porto, Portugal, and Università Ca’Foscari, Venezia, Italy. In 29 April 2001, the new Marriage Law was promulgated in China. The first law on marriage was proclaimed in 1950 with the objective of freeing women from the feudal matrimonial system. With the second law, in 1981, values and conditions that had been distorted by the Cultural Revolution were recovered. Twenty years later, a new reform was started, intending to update marriage in the view of the social and cultural changes that occurred with Deng Xiaoping’s “open policy”. But the legal reform is only the starting point for this case-study. The rituals that are followed in the wedding ceremony are often hard to understand and very difficult to standardize, especially because China is a vast country, densely populated and characterized by several ethnic minorities. Two key words emerge from this issue: syncretism and continuity. On this basis, we can understand tradition in a better way, and analyse whether or not marriage, as every social manifestation, has evolved in harmony with Chinese culture. 6. “The Other Woman in the Portuguese Colonial Empire: The Case of Portuguese India”, Maria de Deus Manso, University of Évora, Portugal. This essay researches the social, cultural and symbolic history of local women in the Portuguese Indian colonial enclaves. The normative Portuguese overseas history has not paid any attention to the “indigenous” female populations in colonial Portuguese territories, albeit the large social importance of these social segments largely used in matrimonial and even catholic missionary strategies. The first attempt to open fresh windows in the history of this new field was the publication of Charles Boxer’s referential study about Women in lberian Overseas Expansion, edited in Portugal only after the Revolution of 1975. After this research we can only quote some other fragmentary efforts. In fact, research about the social, cultural, religious, political and symbolic situation of women in the Portuguese colonial territories, from the XVI to the XX century, is still a minor historiographic field. In this essay we discuss this problem and we study colonial representations of women in the Portuguese Indian enclaves, mainly in the territory of Goa, using case studies methodologies. 7. “Heading East this Time: Critical Readings on Gender in Southeast Asia”, Clara Sarmento, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Portugal. This essay intends to discuss some critical readings of fictional and theoretical texts on gender condition in Southeast Asian countries. Nowadays, many texts about women in Southeast Asia apply concepts of power in unusual areas. Traditional forms of gender hegemony have been replaced by other powerful, if somewhat more covert, forms. We will discuss some universal values concerning conventional female roles as well as the strategies used to recognize women in political fields traditionally characterized by male dominance. Female empowerment will mean different things at different times in history, as a result of culture, local geography and individual circumstances. Empowerment needs to be perceived as an individual attitude, but it also has to be facilitated at the macro­level by society and the State. Gender is very much at the heart of all these dynamics, strongly related to specificities of historical, cultural, ethnic and class situatedness, requiring an interdisciplinary transnational approach.

Contributos de um ambiente de geometria dinâmica (geogebra) e do geoplano na compreensão das propriedades e relações entre quadriláteros: um estudo com alunos do 4.º ano

O estudo insere-se no âmbito da educação matemática, mais especificamente na área da geometria. Com esta investigação pretende-se compreender qual o contributo do Ambiente de Geometria Dinâmica (AGD), GeoGebra, e do material manipulável (geoplano) na identificação das propriedades e relações entre quadriláteros: trapézio, paralelogramo, retângulo, losango e quadrado. De acordo com o objetivo do estudo formularam-se três questões: Qual o papel das representações na identificação das propriedades dos quadriláteros? Que influência tem a visualização na identificação das propriedades dos quadriláteros? Quais os contributos da utilização do AGD, GeoGebra, e do material manipulável (geoplano) na compreensão das propriedades e relações entre os quadriláteros? Atendendo à problemática em estudo, optou-se por uma metodologia de investigação predominantemente qualitativa, baseada em três estudos de caso. A recolha de dados empíricos foi realizada numa turma de 4.º ano do 1.º ciclo do ensino básico onde se implementou uma experiência de ensino, envolvendo todos os alunos e recorrendo ao geoplano e ao GeoGebra. Essa recolha incidiu na observação participante, em sala de aula, no registo de notas da investigadora, nos documentos produzidos pelos alunos e nos registos áudio e vídeo das discussões nos grupos e no coletivo da turma. Em termos de resultados, salienta-se que a utilização de representações evidenciou a compreensão que os alunos têm dos conceitos, facilitou a identificação das propriedades dos quadriláteros e a compreensão das relações entre eles. Os alunos identificaram as propriedades com base nas representações, no entanto focaram-se em casos particulares, de acordo com a imagem mental que têm da figura, especificamente o protótipo, indiciando a influência da visualização. Dos resultados sobressai também a dificuldade que os alunos sentiram em considerar uma figura como representante de uma classe e em distinguir atributos essenciais e não essenciais. Da análise dos dados ressalta também que tanto o geoplano como o GeoGebra foram uma mais-valia na concretização da experiência de ensino deste estudo. Os dois possuem vantagens e limitações e podem ser usados de maneira que um complemente o outro, podendo dessa forma contribuir, favoravelmente, para a aprendizagem da geometria. - ABSTRACT The study falls within the scope of mathematics education, specifically in the area of geometry. This research aims to understand the contribution of the Dynamic Geometry Environment (GeoGebra) and manipulative material (Geoboard) in the identification of properties and relations of quadrilaterals: trapezium, parallelogram, rectangle, diamond and square. According to the purpose of the study three questions were formulated: What is the role of the representations in the identification of the properties of quadrilaterals? What is the influence of visualization on the identification of the properties of quadrilaterals? What are the contributions on the use of Dynamic Geometry Environment (GeoGebra) and manipulative material (Geoboard) to understand the properties and relationships among quadrilaterals? Given the problem under study, it was chosen a predominantly qualitative research methodology based on three case studies. The empirical data collection was carried out on a fourth primary grade class, where it was implemented a teaching experience, involving all students and the use of Geoboard and GeoGebra. This collection was focused on participant observation in the classroom, in the record of the researcher’s notes, the documents produced by the students and the audio and video recordings of group discussions and collective class. In terms of results, it is noted that the use of representations showed the students understanding of the concepts and that it has facilitated the identification of the properties of quadrilaterals and understanding of the relationships between them. The students identified properties based on representations, however they focused in particular cases, according to the mental image that they have of the figure, specifically the prototype, indicating the influence of visualization. Results also highlights the difficulty that students felt in considering a figure as a representation of a group and distinguishing essential and nonessential attributes. Data analysis also highlights that both Geoboard and GeoGebra have been an asset in the delivery of teaching experience in this study. Both have advantages and limitations and they may be used to complement each other and contribute favorably to the learning of geometry.

The influence of relationship quality and culture in the relations between exporter and distributor : the case of portuguese exports to Angola

The objective of this research is to investigate the role of the relationship quality, cooperation and culture between Portuguese companies and their export market intermediaries in Angola. In particular, we aim to understand the importance that the quality of the relationship has in cooperation and the role of cultures in export activities. An important aspect of this study is precisely the fact that it includes an African country, where, in terms of the literature, there is a strong lack of studies. In terms of methodology we opted for qualitative analysis; we present the results of two case studies of Portuguese exporting companies and one case study of Angolan intermediate. In general, the results are that the business relationships are characterized by trust, commitment, cooperation, culture, similar values, as in the past, Angola belonged to Portugal there is easy communication because both countries share the same. Such factors will influence the trade relations between Portuguese exporters and their Angolan distributors.

An adaptive educational system for higher education

The main objective of an Adaptive System is to adequate its relation with the user (content presentation, navigation, interface, etc.) according to a predefined but updatable model of the user that reflects his objectives, preferences, knowledge and competences [Brusilovsky, 2001], [De Bra, 2004]. For Educational Adaptive Systems, the emphasis is placed on the student knowledge in the domain application and learning style, to allow him to reach the learning objectives proposed for his training [Chepegin, 2004]. In Educational AHS, the User Model (UM), or Student Model, has increased relevance: when the student reaches the objectives of the course, the system must be able to readapt, for example, to his knowledge [Brusilovsky, 2001]. Learning Styles are understood as something that intent to define models of how given person learns. Generally it is understood that each person has a Learning Style different and preferred with the objective of achieving better results. Some case studies have proposed that teachers should assess the learning styles of their students and adapt their classroom and methods to best fit each student's learning style [Kolb, 2005], [Martins, 2008]. The learning process must take into consideration the individual cognitive and emotional parts of the student. In summary each Student is unique so the Student personal progress must be monitored and teaching shoul not be not generalized and repetitive [Jonassen, 1991], [Martins, 2008]. The aim of this paper is to present an Educational Adaptive Hypermedia Tool based on Progressive Assessment.

The globalisation in the clothing sector and its implications for work organisation: a view from the Portuguese case

The clothing sector in Portugal is still seen, in many aspects as a traditional sector with some average characteristics, such as: low level of qualifications, less flexible labour legislation and stronger unionisation, very low salaries and low capability of investment in innovation and new technology. Is, nevertheless, a very important sector in terms of labour market, with increased weight in the exporting structure. Globalisation and delocalisation are having a strong impact in the organisation of work and in occupational careers in the sector. With the pressure of global competitiveness in what concerns time and prices, very few companies are able to keep a position in the market without changes in organisation of work and workers. And those that can perform good responses to such challenges are achieving a better economical stability. The companies have found different ways to face this reality according to size, capital and position. We could find two main paths: one where companies outsource a part or the entire production to another territory (for example, several manufacturing tasks), close and/or dismissal the workers. Other path, where companies up skilled their capacities investing, for example, in design, workers training, conception and introduction of new or original products. This paper will present some results from the European project WORKS – Work organisation and restructuring in the knowledge society (6th Framework Programme), focusing the Portuguese case studies in several clothing companies in what concern implications of global context for the companies in general and for the workers in particular, in a comparative analysis with some other European countries.

Cálculo mental com números racionais não negativos: um estudo sobre as estratégias utilizadas por alunos do 4.º ano de escolaridade

Relatório Final apresentado à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para a obtenção de grau de mestre em Ensino do 1.º e 2.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

Práticas organizacionais formais utilizadas para a aprendizagem com acidentes de trabalho

O SHO 2010, Colóquio Internacional de Segurança e Higiene Ocupaciona

Radioactivity studies in Porto urban area: gamma radiation of Paranhos sector

A set of radiation measurements were carried out in several public and private institutions. These were selected with basis on the people affluence and passage to these sites. These measurements were registration formed either indoor, outdoor or underground and were compiled in three Case Studies. Radiation doses measurements were also made, surface and underground locations, and compiled in other two Case Studies. There were sampled, at the same time, humidity, temperature, atmospheric pressure and relevant construction materials at sampling locations. They were collected and registration formed to analyse if there is any relation or contribution for the measured value in each specific place. Geostatistical models were used to elaborate maps of the results both for radiation values and for doses. Preliminary relations were established among the measured parameters.

GAIC: Um sistema inteligente e flexível para simulação e apoio à participação de pequenos e médios consumidores na gestão ativa de cargas no âmbito de smart grids

A liberalização dos mercados de energia e a utilização intensiva de produção distribuída tem vindo a provocar uma alteração no paradigma de operação das redes de distribuição de energia elétrica. A continuidade da fiabilidade das redes de distribuição no contexto destes novos paradigmas requer alterações estruturais e funcionais. O conceito de Smart Grid vem permitir a adaptação das redes de distribuição ao novo contexto. Numa Smart Grid os pequenos e médios consumidores são chamados ao plano ativo das participações. Este processo é conseguido através da aplicação de programas de demand response e da existência de players agregadores. O uso de programas de demand response para alcançar benefícios para a rede encontra-se atualmente a ser estudado no meio científico. Porém, existe a necessidade de estudos que procurem benefícios para os pequenos e médios consumidores. O alcance dos benefícios para os pequenos e médios consumidores não é apenas vantajoso para o consumidor, como também o é para a rede elétrica de distribuição. A participação, dos pequenos e médios consumidores, em programas de demand response acontece significativamente através da redução de consumos energéticos. De modo a evitar os impactos negativos que podem provir dessas reduções, o trabalho aqui proposto faz uso de otimizações que recorrem a técnicas de aprendizagem através da utilização redes neuronais artificiais. Para poder efetuar um melhor enquadramento do trabalho com as Smart Grids, será desenvolvido um sistema multiagente capaz de simular os principais players de uma Smart Grid. O foco deste sistema multiagente será o agente responsável pela simulação do pequeno e médio consumidor. Este agente terá não só que replicar um pequeno e médio consumidor, como terá ainda que possibilitar a integração de cargas reais e virtuais. Como meio de interação com o pequeno e médio consumidor, foi desenvolvida no âmbito desta dissertação um sistema móvel. No final do trabalho obteve-se um sistema multiagente capaz de simular uma Smart Grid e a execução de programas de demand response, sSendo o agente representante do pequeno e médio consumidor capaz de tomar ações e reações de modo a poder responder autonomamente aos programas de demand response lançados na rede. O desenvolvimento do sistema permite: o estudo e análise da integração dos pequenos e médios consumidores nas Smart Grids por meio de programas de demand response; a comparação entre múltiplos algoritmos de otimização; e a integração de métodos de aprendizagem. De modo a demonstrar e viabilizar as capacidades de todo o sistema, a dissertação inclui casos de estudo para as várias vertentes que podem ser exploradas com o sistema desenvolvido.

Public works policy in Portugal: a case study in unsustainability

International Journal of Engineering and Industrial Management, nº 1, p. 195-208