Gerenciamento de alarmes em plataformas marítimas de produção de hidrocarbonetos: metodologia e estudo de caso

In the operational context of industrial processes, alarm, by definition, is a warning to the operator that an action with limited time to run is required, while the event is a change of state information, which does not require action by the operator, therefore should not be advertised, and only stored for analysis of maintenance, incidents and used for signaling / monitoring (EEMUA, 2007). However, alarms and events are often confused and improperly configured similarly by developers of automation systems. This practice results in a high amount of pseudo-alarms during the operation of industrial processes. The high number of alarms is a major obstacle to improving operational efficiency, making it difficult to identify problems and increasing the time to respond to abnormalities. The main consequences of this scenario are the increased risk to personal safety, facilities, environment deterioration and loss of production. The aim of this paper is to present a philosophy for setting up a system of supervision and control, developed with the aim of reducing the amount of pseudo-alarms and increase reliability of the information that the system provides. A real case study was conducted in the automation system of the offshore production of hydrocarbons from Petrobras in Rio Grande do Norte, in order to validate the application of this new methodology. The work followed the premises of the tool presented in ISA SP18.2. 2009, called "life cycle alarm . After the implementation of methodology there was a significant reduction in the number of alarms

Welfare Policies and Solidarity Toward the Elderly

In this paper we analyze the effect of welfare policies oriented toward the elderly on solidarity toward the elderly in a sample of European countries. The research question is whether more generous welfare policies crowd out solidarity. For this purpose, we analyze four waves of the SHARE database. We use multilevel analysis to estimate the effect of national variables on transfers toward the elderly, controlling for individual level variables. At the national level we focus on the effect of public spending on policies oriented toward the elderly after controlling for some other relevant variables, such as the proportion of elderly people, female labor force participation and unemployment. Our results indicate that expenditure in social protection toward the elderly has a positive and significant (albeit moderate) effect on the economic support received by the elderly (which is in line with the Crowding-in hypothesis). However, in the case of time transfers, we find that expenditure in social protection toward the elderly has a negative and significant impact on the time transfers received by the elderly (which is consistent with the Crowding-out hypothesis).

Literatura e imagen del cómic: Laura Pérez Vernetti-Blina

En esta tesis, a partir del estudio de la obra de Laura Pérez Vernetti, objeto de estudio, pretendo ofrecer una reflexión metodológica y crítica sobre el cómic española de proyección internacional en Europa y en el mundo, que nos conduzca a calibrar mejor el lugar que ocupa hoy en el ámbito internacional. Contexto histórico en el que se centra la metodología de esta tesis, situando esta metodología para enmarcar a Laura. Desde esta perspectiva de proyección internacional, ha sido de mi interés, seguir, para este análisis, varios períodos en los que se insertan tres grupos generacionales que nos han conducido hasta unos autores relevantes que han alcanzado categoría mundial, entre los que se encuentra Laura. La reflexión llevada a cabo abarca tanto los fenómenos ligados a la industria del cómic, como sus vinculaciones al arte y a la experimentación a la que se adscribe la obra de la dibujante Laura. Asimismo, pretendo valorar cúal ha sido su contribución a la historieta del cómic mundial partiendo del postulado del cómic como arte. Situando a Laura Pérez Vernetti-Blina dentro de esta evolución de las mentalidades. La evolución a la que asistimos ahora, hace que se estudie el cómic como arte, por eso los estudios han pasado de la semiología a la integración en una historia de las artes: de una aproximación semiológica a una aproximación estética. Cómic como arte. Y dentro de esta tendencia Laura presentaba una obra original para la investigación. Por eso su obra es tan singular y digna de interés. Pero antes, de estos objetivos, trazamos antes el perfil de dos autoras como precursoras de un cómic, Núria Pompeia e Isa Feu, de justa introducción a Laura, y más allá de éstas, una mirada retrospectiva a los años 30, una generación de dibujantes que se vieron limitadas a un tipo de cómic dirigido. Mi contribución en este estudio, al conocimiento de la autora, una de las más importantes del cómic español y una autora esencial de la nueva historieta española de la década de los ochenta. Partiendo del concepto de graphic novel asociada a cómic adulto, a la historieta de autor, para poder hablar de la nueva historieta española en la creación contemporánea. Partiendo de que el cómic es un medio de expresión gráfica eminentemente narrativo. La misma naturaleza fundamentalmente narrativa de la imagen secuencial la capacita para representar el tiempo y por lo tanto es idónea para la narración (cómic y cine). No podemos más que aseverar, que desde fines del siglo pasado y en los primeros años del nuevo siglo, se ha producido un salto cualitativo en la dedicación a la investigación de estos estudios. Mientras tanto, la labor del investigador en el ámbito del cómic puede y debe abrir horizontes continuados, con estudios pertinentes que nos conduzcan a reflexiones nuevas sobre esta manifestación artística de carácter “complejo”, como es el cómic, mediante el estudio y análisis de los autores, que se sirven de este medio para expresar sus inquietudes artísticas. No he tenido más pretensión en esta investigación, que proporcionar una contribución al conocimiento de la autora y al cómic en general. Valorando la aportación al conocimiento de la historieta, que abra horizontes nuevos, para las futuras investigaciones.

Spain and Investment Arbitration: The Renewable Energy Explosion

In the past decade, Spain’s generous incentive system for renewable energy production attracted substantial foreign and national investment. However, when the global financial crisis hit, and the consequent reduction of electricity consumption, the incentives began to cause a tariff deficit in the electricity system, leading the Spanish government to cut back and then eliminate the incentives. In the wake of losses, international investors turned to investment arbitration, while national investors could only present their claims before Spanish courts. The result was a potential for differential treatment between national and foreign investors. This paper examines the incentive regime and the government’s changes to it in order to understand the investors’ claims and the reasoning that resulted in their rejections, both in national courts and in the only arbitration award issued up to now. The paper concludes with a discussion of the effect of the renewable energies situation on the investment arbitration debate within Spanish civil society.

“Não sou apenas funaná e cachupa” – um estudo sobre integração e sentimento de comunidade dos jovens cabo-verdianos na sociedade de acolhimento

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao ISPA - Instituto Universitário

Reassessing the Evolutionary History of the 17q21 Inversion Polymorphism

A polymorphic inversion that lies on chromosome 17q21 comprises two major haplotype families (H1 and H2) that not only differ in orientation but also in copy-number. Although the processes driving the spread of the inversion-associated lineage (H2) in humans remain unclear, a selective advantage has been proposed for one of its subtypes. Here, we genotyped a large panel of individuals from previously overlooked populations using a custom array with a unique panel of H2-specific single nucleotide polymorphisms and found a patchy distribution of H2 haplotypes in Africa, with North Africans displaying a higher frequency of inverted subtypes, when compared with Sub-Saharan groups. Interestingly, North African H2s were found to be closer to "non-African" chromosomes further supporting that these populations may have diverged more recently from groups outside Africa. Our results uncovered higher diversity within the H2 family than previously described, weakening the hypothesis of a strong selective sweep on all inverted chromosomes and suggesting a rather complex evolutionary history at this locus.

Intelligent internet computing: applications and security systems

Intelligent Internet Computing (IIC) is emerging rapidly as an exciting new paradigm including pervasive, grid, and peer-to-peer computing to provide computing and communication services any time and anywhere. IIC paradigm foresees seamless integration of communicating and computational devices and applications embedded in all parts of our environment, from our physical selves, to our homes, our offices, our streets and so on. Although IIC presents exciting enabling opportunities, the benefits will only be realized if application and security issues can be appropriately addressed. This special issue is intended to foster the dissemination of state-of-the-art research in the area of IIC, including novel applications associated with its utilization, security systems and services, security models. We plan to publish high quality manuscripts, which cover the various practical applications and related security theories of IIC. The papers should not be submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere. Submissions of high quality papers describing mature results or on-going work are invited. Selected high-quality papers from “the Eleventh IEEE International Conference on High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC-09) and the Third International Conference on Information Security and Assurance (ISA-09),” will be published in this special issue of Journal of Internet Technology on "Intelligent Internet Computing".

Auditoria na UE : Avaliação dos riscos do auditor: Relatório de estágio

No sentido de uma aprendizagem e de um conhecimento mais aprofundado sobre a actividade da auditoria na sua vertente interna e externa, áreas de significativo interesse para um profissional da administração pública, foi este Relatório de Estágio fectuado na Universidade de Évora, integrando a equipa de auditoria interna desta Instituição e acompanhando os trabalhos desenvolvidos pela mesma. Este trabalho visa, com particular ênfase chamar a atenção para a crescente importância da Auditoria Interna, e dos riscos associados a esta actividade, recorrendo-se ainda a práticas e procedimentos inerentes à Auditoria Externa, uma vez que entre as mesmas se encontram pontos comuns relevantes para fundamento das acções desenvolvidas. A Auditoria Interna, numa visão actual do seu funcionamento, centra a sua atenção nas actividades que a Organização exerce. É neste sentido que este trabalho de estágio deve proporcionar: - uma reflexão sobre a importância do planeamento dos trabalhos; - um levantamento e identificação dos riscos de um auditor; - uma definição dos riscos da auditoria e da materialidade. De forma a que no decorrer do mesmo seja possível interpretar as normas técnicas e directrizes de auditoria, aplicando-as na execução dos trabalhos. Estes irão desenvolver-se incidindo sobre as normas internacionais de auditoria (ISA), ISA315 - Compreensão da Entidade e do Seu Ambiente e Avaliar os Riscos de Distorção Material e ISA 330 - Os Procedimentos do Auditor em Resposta a Riscos Avaliados. /ABSTRACT: ln order to get a deeper knowledge about the activity of internal auditing, a topic of significant interest for a public administration professional, the output of this work is an Internship Report realized in the University of Évora, integrating the internal auditing team of this institution and observing the work developed by this team. This work aims to draw attention to the increasing importance of Internal Auditing and to the risks associated with this activity, using practices and procedures of External Auditing, since there are important common issues between the two types of auditing, which are relevant for the tasks under analysis. The current approach in Internal Auditing is centered in the activities that the Organization performs. It is in this sense that this internship intends to: provide a reflection on the importance of planning, identify the risks of an auditor, define auditing risks and materiality. It is also intended that during the internship there is the opportunity to interpret the technical auditing norms and directives and to apply them in the execution of auditing tasks. The work will be developed considering the international standard for Auditing (ISA), ISA 315 Obtaining and understanding of the entity and its environment and assessing the risks of material misstatement e ISA 330- Materiality in Planning and Performing an Audit.

Biological Approaches for Remediation of Metal-Contaminated Sites

Environmental pollution by several heavy metals and metalloids is a severe problem worldwide, as soils became increasingly contaminated, posing a threat to ecosystems and ultimately to human health. Contamination derives from large scale urbanization and industrialization, threatening land ecosystems, surface and groundwater, as well as food safety and human health. Remediation strategies for heavy metal-contaminated sites are necessary to protect from their toxic effects and conserve the environment for future generations. Numerous physicochemical techniques have been adopted including excavation and deposition in landfills, thermal treatment, leaching and electro-reclamation. These techniques are fast but inadequate, costly, cause adverse effects on soil physical, chemical and biological properties, and may lead to secondary pollution. In fact, many of these approaches only change the problem from one form or place to another, and do not completely destroy the pollutants. There was an urgent need to develop new technologies which are cost-effective and eco-friendly. In this context, biological remediation has tremendous potential. It uses plants and microorganisms to remove or contain toxic contaminants and is considered as the most effective method because it is a natural process, environmentally-friendly, has a low cost, and wide public acceptance. The present chapter aims to provide a comprehensive review of some of the promising processes mediated by plant and microbes to remediate metal-contaminated environments. Some biological processes used for the decontamination of organic compounds will also be included because of their relevance and potential common use for both purposes.

Exploration of polymetallic nodules in the Area: Reporting practices, data management and transparency

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) regulates the activities related with the exploration and exploitation of seabed mineral resources in the Area, which are considered as the "common heritage of mankind" under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.The ISA has also the mandate to ensure the protection of the marine environment.The development of good practices for the annual reporting and data submission by Contractors is crucial for the ISA to comply with the sustainable development of the mineral marine resources. In 2015,the ISA issued a new template for reporting on exploration activities, which includes the definition of the format for all geophysical, geological and environmental data to be collected and analysed during exploration. The availability of reliable data contributes to improve the assessment of the ISA on the activities in the Area while promoting transparency, which is considered as a major principle of industry bestpractices.

APOIO À DECISÃO PARA A PROTEÇÃO INTEGRADA NO COMBATE A Tuta absoluta EM TOMATE HORTOINDUSTRIAL

A traça-do-tomateiro é atualmente uma praga-chave do tomate para indústria, na região do Ribatejo. A sua presença foi detectada em 2010, tendo causado prejuízos significativos na campanha de 2011. O objetivo deste projeto é criar ferramentas para a tomada de decisão no âmbito da proteção desta cultura contra esta praga. Durante o ano de 2013, procedeu-se à monitorização semanal de adultos de T. absoluta com recurso a armadilhas com feromona sexual, e à observação visual em 25 a 50 plantas, de acordo com o estado fenológico da cultura. O material entomológico foram analisadas, posteriormente, em laboratório para deteção de parasitismo. Além de avaliar a intensidade de ataque, identificaram-se fatores de risco prévio, para construção de mapas de risco de apoio à tomada de decisão para a limitação da praga como culturas vizinhas e respetivas datas de colheita. Os dados preliminares não apresentaram uma correlação entre o número de machos adultos capturados e o número de larvas presentes na cultura, pelo que a estimativa de risco baseada apenas na contagem de machos adultos não parece ser suficiente para a tomada de decisão. Verificaram-se dificuldades no combate à praga devido a razões de ordem estrutural (e.g. posse da terra, hospedeiros alternativos na vizinhança) e a lacunas no conhecimento da sua bioecologia.

Feminino plural: literatura, língua e linguagem nos contextos italiano e lusófono

A relação entre as mulheres e o feminino no âmbito da língua portuguesa e da língua italiana provocou a promoção de vários encontros, jornadas e debates, que se desdobrou, por sua vez, na colaboração de vários investigadores para compor este livro que agora vem a lume.

Landscape structure shapes carnivore-mediated seed dispersal kernels

Context Seed dispersal is recognized as having profound effects on the distribution, dynamics and structure of plant populations and communities. However, knowledge of how landscape structure shapes carnivore-mediated seed dispersal patterns is still scarce, thereby limiting our understanding of large-scale plant population processes. Objectives We aim to determine how the amount and spatial configuration of forest cover impacted the relative abundance of carnivorous mammals, and how these effects cascaded through the seed dispersal kernels they generated. Methods Camera traps activated by animal movement were used for carnivore sampling. Colour-coded seed mimics embedded in common figs were used to know the exact origin of the dispersed seed mimics later found in carnivore scats. We applied this procedure in two sites differing in landscape structure. Results We did not find between-site differences in the relative abundance of the principal carnivore species contributing to seed dispersal patterns, Martes foina. Mean dispersal distance and the probability of long dispersal events were higher in the site with spatially continuous and abundant forest cover, compared to the site with spatially aggregated and scarcer forest cover. Seed deposition closely matched the spatial patterning of forest cover in both study sites, suggesting behaviour-based mechanisms underpinning seed dispersal patterns generated by individual frugivore species. Conclusions Our results provide the first empirical evidence of the impact of landscape structure on carnivore-mediated seed dispersal kernels. They also indicate that seed dispersal kernels generated strongly depend on the effect that landscape structure exerts on carnivore populations, particularly on habitat-use preferences.

Brèves considérations sur Jean-Marie Géhu et la phytosociologie au Portugal

O artigo destaca a importância do Prof. Jean-Marie Géhu no desenvolvimento da fitossociologia, não só através do incentivo e apoio à fundação de várias associações científicas, mas também através da criação de três séries de periódicos científicos, com larga difusão na Europa. Por outro lado, destaca ainda a forte ligação do Prof. Jean-Marie Géhu a Portugal, onde orientou trabalhos de doutoramento e realizou vários levantamentos de campo que deram origem a publicações científicas estruturantes para a Fitossociologia em Portugal. Por último, em estreita colaboração com outros fitossociólogos europeus, saliente-se ainda a elevada produção científica que em muito contribuiu para o desenvolvimento desta ciência.

Modern viticulture in southern Europe: Vulnerabilities and strategies for adaptation to water scarcity

Water is now considered the most important but vulnerable resource in the Mediterranean region. Nev ertheless, irrigation expanded fast in the region (e.g. South Portugal and Spain) to mitigate environmental stress and to guarantee stable grape yield and quality. Sustainable wine production depends on sustain able water use in the wine’s supply chain, from the vine to the bottle. Better understanding of grapevine stress physiology (e.g. water relations, temperature regulation, water use efficiency), more robust crop monitoring/phenotyping and implementation of best water management practices will help to mitigate climate effects and will enable significant water savings in the vineyard and winery. In this paper, we focused on the major vulnerabilities and opportunities of South European Mediterranean viticulture (e.g. in Portugal and Spain) and present a multi-level strategy (from plant to the consumer) to overcome region’s weaknesses and support strategies for adaptation to water scarcity, promote sustainable water use and minimize the environmental impact of the sector.