Iberian peninsula ecosystem carbon fluxes: a model-data integration study

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia do Ambiente pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa,Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Topics regarding access to european information institutions: European Union so close and yet so far

From the 1990s, the Parliament, the Council and the European Commission adopted a new approach to disclosure of their working papers. Legal instruments to regulate and allow a fairly broad access to internal working documents of these institutions were created. European institutions also exploited the potential of Information and Communication Technologies, developing new instruments to register the documents produced and make them accessible to the public. The commitment to transparency sought to shows a more credible European government, and reduces the democratic deficit. However, the data analysis regarding access to EU institutions documents shows that general public is still far from direct contact with European bodies.

The need for information literacy skills among users of European Union information

The aim of this paper is the assessment of information literacy skills related to European topics, among a group of 234 users of 55 European Documentation Centres (EDCs), from 21 European Union Member- States. We will present the results of a survey European information. So we will analyse the answers given by the users of the EDCs relating to aspects like the best sources to access trustworthy and impartial Europe information. The factors determining access to information on the EU and the frequency of this access will equally be analysed. The reasons the users gave for the ease or difficulty in accessing European information are also included and pondered on. Parallel to this, we will evaluate the aspects most valued by the users of this kind of information. Our findings on the use of European information available on the Internet, especially the knowledge and making use of databases will be presented. Based on this analysis the paper will demonstrate the need to develop information literacy competencies to identify, use and access European information. Doing so, some potential components of information literacy skills adapted to European information will be introduced.

Information literacy skills of portuguese LIS students: some topics on evaluation of resources credibility

This paper focuses on the Portuguese results from an international survey on LIS students’ information literacy skills. The results’ analysis will be grounded on a literature review on the criteria application to evaluate information and determine the credibility by undergraduate students. The guidelines for the information evaluation, especially regarding credibility aspect, on three main information literacy frameworks will be presented. After an overall presentation of the main results, the analysis of the Portuguese survey results will focus on issues related to information evaluation skills, namely on criteria to assess information credibility and on difficulties to apply them.

European institutions at your fingertips: EUROPA gateway tools for dissemination and access to information

This paper intends to present the legal background that support dissemination and access to documents from European institutions, namely the Parliament, the Council and the European Commission. Currently, this legal framework is accomplished with a set of Internet tools that are analyzed regarding official documents types and options searches available. Some statistical data on access to European information published in annual reports from the institutions are also evaluated. The relationship between shadow and light in transparency to access administrative documents and marketing issues of a political communication are underlined. Neo-institutional approach, reputational concept in public organizations and systemic perspective are used as theoretical background.

Information professionals in business context: new professionals, old skills

This communication aims to present some reflections regarding the importance of information in organizational context, especially in business context. The ability to produce and to share expertise and knowledge among its employees is now a key factor in the success of any organization. However, it’s also true that workers are increasingly feeling that too much information can hurt their performance. The existence of skilled professionals able to organize, evaluate, select and disseminate information in organizations appears to be a prerequisite for success. The skills necessary for the formation of a professional devoted to the management of information and knowledge in the context of business organizations will be analysed. Then data collected in two focus group discussion with students from a graduate course in Business Information, from Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Portugal, a will be examined.

Seropositivity for anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies among blood donors of the "Hospital Universitário Regional do Norte do Paraná", Londrina, Brazil

The most frequent form of acquisition of Chagas' disease in endemic areas was the transmission through the feces of contaminated triatominae. However, special attention should be paid in urban areas to transmission by blood transfusion, justifying the compulsory screening of blood donors. Early investigations at blood banks in the town of Londrina, Brazil, demonstrated that the seroprevalence of anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies among blood donors was approximately 7.0% in the fifties9,34. Further studies demonstrated pratically the same seroprevalence until the eighties4,32,41. In an attempt to obtain data about the real dimension of the seropositivity for anti-Trypasonoma cruzi antibodies in the region, the authors carried out a large-scale study on 45,774 serum samples from blood donors of the Hemocentro of Hospital Universitário Regional do Norte do Paraná (HURNP), Universidade Estadual de Londrina. The immunological tests were done at the Division of Clinical Immunology of HURNP from May 1990 to December 1994. The serum samples were studied by the indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA, using kits commercially obtained from EBRAM) and by indirect immunofluorescence (IFI, using kits from LIO SERUM) with anti-human IgG conjugate (LABORCLIN). The results demonstrated that 643 serum samples were positive in both assay corresponding to a seroprevalence of 1.4%, i.e., a significant decrease in anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies in the region in comparison with the previously mentioned rates. Data correlating sex and age of seropositive blood donors are presented, as well as the possible factors that may have contributed to the results observed.

Building information model - avaliação do seu potencial como solução para os principais atrasos e desperdícios na construção portuguesa

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil – perfil de Construção

Um modelo Regional para Portugal

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Ciências do Ambiente, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

A Communication and Resources Management Scheme to Support the Smart Grid Integration of Multiplayers Access to Resources Information

The increasing and intensive integration of distributed energy resources into distribution systems requires adequate methodologies to ensure a secure operation according to the smart grid paradigm. In this context, SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems are an essential infrastructure. This paper presents a conceptual design of a communication and resources management scheme based on an intelligent SCADA with a decentralized, flexible, and intelligent approach, adaptive to the context (context awareness). The methodology is used to support the energy resource management considering all the involved costs, power flows, and electricity prices leading to the network reconfiguration. The methodology also addresses the definition of the information access permissions of each player to each resource. The paper includes a 33-bus network used in a case study that considers an intensive use of distributed energy resources in five distinct implemented operation contexts.

Artificial Intelligence in geospatial analysis: applications of self-organizing maps in the context of geographic information science.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Systems.

Building information modeling: oportunidades e desafios para projectistas e donos de obra em Portugal

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil-Perfil de Construção

Invited review: Models for the optimization of regional wastewater treatment systems

European Journal of Operational Research, nº 73 (1994)

Are societal changes new? Questions or trends and future perceptions on knowledge-based economy

With the emergence of a global division of labour, the internationalisation of markets and cultures, the growing power of supranational organisations and the spread of new information technologies to every field of life, it starts to appear a different kind of society, different from the industrial society, and called by many as ‘the knowledge-based economy’, emphasizing the importance of information and knowledge in many areas of work and organisation of societies. Despite the common trends of evolution, these transformations do not necessarily produce a convergence of national and regional social and economic structures, but a diversity of realities emerging from the relations between economic and political context on one hand and the companies and their strategies on the other. In this sense, which future can we expect to the knowledge economy? How can we measure it and why is it important? This paper will present some results from the European project WORKS – Work organisation and restructuring in the knowledge society (6th Framework Programme), focusing the future visions and possible future trends in different countries, sectors and industries, given empirical evidences of the case studies applied in several European countries, underling the importance of foresight exercises to design policies, prevent uncontrolled risks and anticipate alternatives, leading to different ‘knowledge economies’ and not to the ‘knowled