Provide instructions and resources for assessment and training in earth building: the Pirate project

This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Social tariffs for water and waste services in mainland Portugal: An impact analysis

This paper proposes to quantify the effect of social tariffs (ST) in the Portuguese water and waste sector (WWS). It calculates the amount of subsidy implicit in ST schemes, characterising the existing tariffs in 2011 and producing a synthetic tariff scene where the regulator’s recommendation is respected. This is the first time such an exercise is undertaken and it is very relevant in a context of deep economic crisis. Results suggest that there are fewer beneficiaries than what income eligibility criteria would imply and that putting the regulator’s recommendation in practice would considerably raise subsidy amounts, potentially leading to a severe increase in non-subsidised user tariffs to allow for break-even.

A violência doméstica no seio da relação conjugal e a sua relação com o estatuto da mulher na sociedade

Domestic violence is one of the most serious problems that contemporary society faces. Domestic violence that specifically occurs between spouses is a particular case of domestic violence that has caused a high number of victims - mostly women - putting thus an enormous challenge to states with regard to combating this problem. In this thesis we intend to proceed with the study of this phenomenon in the Angolan context. The objective of this study is trying to understand how such violence is manifested in Angola, what factors may be at it’s source and what effects can be observed on the victims, their families and in society itself. Being the Angolan people strongly linked to traditions and customs, it seemed interesting to also address the issue of domestic violence under customary law. In addition to the problem of the study itself, we proceed to exposure and analysis of how the state and civil society have intervened in this matter. At the end of this study, we conclude that despite the fact that the issue of domestic violence has received more attention in recent years from the public entities and society in general, there is still a long way to go. This path involves not only more actions of the state but also a change of mentality, which can enable the break with social stereotypes in adopting a different behavior over the issue under review and internalizing that human dignity is the basic principle of any state that proclaims democratic rights.

Energy efficiency in energy policy: Empirical evidence of direct rebound effect in Portuguese household's demand for electricity

This project the direct rebound effect for the electricity demand in Portugal. While we find evidence of such an effect, the estimations also reflect the institutional arrangement that has characterized the electricity market in the country. Also, issues related to energy efficiency promotion are addressed in general putting into context the case study developed.

Urethral catheter removal 7 or 14 days after radical retropubic prostatectomy: clinical implications and complications in a randomized study

PURPOSE: To evaluate the hypothesis that a 7-day period of indwelling catheter after radical retropubic prostatectomy is effective and safe without the need of performing cystography. METHODS: In the period from January of 2000 to July of 2002, 73 patients underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy, and these patients were prospectively randomized in 2 groups: Group 1-37 patients who had the urethral catheter removed 7 days after the procedure, and Group 2-36 patients who had the catheter removed 14 days after the surgery. The 2 groups were similar, the surgeons and the technique were the same, and no cystography was performed to evaluate the presence of leaks. RESULTS: Two patients in Group 1 had bleeding and clot retention after having the catheter taken out in the seventh postoperative day and were managed by putting the catheter back in for 7 more days. Two patients in Group 2 developed bladder neck stricture and were treated by bladder neck incision with success. The continence rate was the same, with 2 cases of incontinence in each group. About 2 pads a day were used by the patients with incontinence. The average follow-up was 17.5 months (12-36 months). No urinary fistula, urinoma, or pelvic abscesses developed after catheter removal. Two patients were excluded from the analysis of this series: 1 died with a pulmonary embolus in the third postoperative day, and 1 developed a urinary suprapubic fistula before catheter withdrawal, which was maintained for 16 days. CONCLUSION: Withdrawal of the urethral catheter 7 days after radical retropubic prostatectomy, without performing cystography, has a low rate of short-term complications that are equivalent to withdrawal 14 days after the surgery.

The perfect paint in modern art conservation: a comparative study of 21st century vinyl emulsions

Contemporary painting places, and will continue to place, several questions about its meaning, its chemical nature, its durability and the best way to preserve it. This research aims at putting together comprehensive data on vinyl based paints, including their components, their properties, their aging behavior and their response to selected cleaning products. In this project degradation mechanisms of vinyl binders and formulations used in the 20th and 21st century were studied. Stability over time of selected vinyl polymers was assessed through natural indoor and artificially aging. The objective was to enhance knowledge and understanding of vinyl emulsion formulations and their performance over time. Overall conservation state of pictorial layers namely, adhesion, cohesion and discoloration of selected case studies from the Portuguese artist Julião Sarmento (b.1948) was correlated with the observed molecular level changes studied in laboratory experiments. Sarmento’s paintings were chosen due to conservation concerns (discoloration) on some of his works from the 90’s. Besides, research was carried out to start increasing the knowledge of what can be expected of PVAc based paints in terms of response to conservation treatments namely, surface cleaning. Artificial aging showed that the most recent formulations which are based on a poly(vinyl acetate), poly(vinyl chloride) and polyethylene terpolymer are less stable when compared to some homopolymer formulations. From the four pigments studied, titanium dioxide rutile and a carbon based black proved to be stabilizers for both types of polymer. The mixture lithopone plus calcium carbonate has showed to have a photocatalytic effect on the binders. The studied paintings showed to be in an overall good state of conservation except for the paintings created in the 90’s with white glue and a mixture of white lithoponeand calcium carbonate. Discoloration of this white paint seems to be irreversible and ongoing and is still a major concern. The disapearance of the plasticizer was the only change detected. The current works created by Sarmento are expected to be more stable as they were painted using the rutile titanium dioxide. Immersion/cleaning tests showed that vinyl based paints can be susceptible to water and organic solvents like ethanol as some evidences point to the removal/diffusion of additives from the paint. The observations made point to the need to further proceed in this research field.

Mediação do professor no processo de construção de conhecimento dos alunos: a resolução de problemas matemáticos, em contextos de aprendizagem situada e explícita

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

Cross-scale determinants of palm species distribution

We investigate palm species distribution, richness and abundance along the Mokoti, a seasonally-dry river of southeastern Amazon and compare it to the patterns observed at a large scale, comprising the entire Brazilian territory. A total of 694 palms belonging to 10 species were sampled at the Mokoti River basin. Although the species showed diverse distribution patterns, we found that local palm abundance, richness and tree basal area were significantly higher from the hills to the bottomlands of the study region, revealing a positive association of these measures with moisture. The analyses at the larger spatial scale also showed a strong influence of vapor pressure (a measure of moisture content of the air, in turn modulated by temperature) and seasonality in temperature: the richest regions were those where temperature and humidity were simultaneously high, and which also presented a lower degree of seasonality in temperature. These results indicate that the distribution of palms seems to be strongly associated with climatic variables, supporting the idea that, by 'putting all the eggs in one basket' (a consequence of survival depending on the preservation of a single irreplaceable bud), palms have become vulnerable to extreme environmental conditions. Hence, their distribution is concentrated in those tropical and sub-tropical regions with constant conditions of (mild to high) temperature and moisture all year round.

Literacy practices in adult learning biographies: possibilities and constraints

[Extrat] The answer to the social and economic challenges that it is assumed literacy (or its lack) puts to developed countries deeply concerns public policies of governments namely those of the OECD area. In the last decades, these concerns gave origin to several and diverse monitoring devices, initiatives and programmes for reading (mainly) development, putting a strong stress on education. UNESCO (2006, p. 6), for instance, assumes that the literacy challenge can only be met raising the quality of primary and secondary education and intensifying programmes explicitly oriented towards youth and adult literacy. (...)

Recursos para la alfabetización mediática: investigación y propuestas para niños

Mucho se ha investigado sobre la educación en medios, su importancia y objetivos. Más allá de las Directivas, resoluciones o recomendaciones, la investigación en esta área ha permitido profundizar y solidificar sus fundamentos, al tiempo que ha facilitado el reconocimiento de sus puntos más débiles u omisiones. Uno de los puntos críticos destacados por la formación y por el trabajo de investigación que se ha desarrollado en la Universidad de Miño (Portugal) durante los últimos 20 años, es la inexistencia de recursos y materiales que puedan utilizarse para la promoción de la educación en los medios de comunicación en diferentes contextos. De esta forma, independientemente de los recursos y materiales, se genera la importancia de la transferencia de conocimientos a la práctica, la trascendencia de la mediación del conocimiento producido a su público. Esta preocupación fue la base principal del proyecto titulado «Recursos para la alfabetización mediática» llevado a cabo en el Centro de Estudios de Comunicación y Sociedad y financiado por Evens Foundation (Bélgica). Este trabajo presenta sucintamente los procesos de creación y los resultados generados por estos recursos, centrados en tres medios: televisión, videojuegos e Internet y redes sociales.

Da transversalidade do eixo da Fonte Velha: uma proposta de requalificação em duas ações

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Arquitectura

Interação multimodal de dispositivos robóticos em ambiente simulado

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão de Sistemas de Informação

External and internal dynamics in the EU's counter-terrorism policy: a political and legal analysis

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciência Política e Relações Internacionais

Determinação de psicofármacos em cabelo humano por técnicas cromatográficas hifenadas: um método alternativo não-invasivo

Dissertação de mestrado em Técnicas de Caracterização e Análise Química

Modelação de processos num serviço de uma organização de ensino superior

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão Industrial