Strategic planning of electricity systems: Integrating renewable energies

Tese de Doutoramento - Programa Doutoral em Engenharia Industrial e Sistemas (PDEIS)

Quality of institutional care and early childhood development

Institutional rearing adversely affects children’s development, but the extent to which specific characteristics of the institutional context and the quality of care provided contribute to problematic development remains unclear. In this study, 72 preschoolers institutionalised for at least 6 months were evaluated by their caregiver using the Child Behavior Checklist and the Disturbances of Attachment Interview. Distal and proximate indices of institutional caregiving quality were assessed using both staff reports and direct observation. Results revealed that greater caregiver sensitivity predicted reduced indiscriminate behaviour and secure-base distortions. A closer relationship with the caregiver predicted reduced inhibited attachment behaviour. Emotional and behavioural problems proved unrelated to caregiving quality. Results are discussed in terms of (non)-shared caregiving factors that influence institutionalised children’s development.

GIS application in water resources master planning

Due to water scarcity, it is important to organize and regulate water resources utilization to satisfy the conflicting water demands and needs. This paper aims to describe a comprehensive methodology for managing the water sector of a defined urbanized region, using the robust capabilities of a Geographic Information System (GIS). The proposed methodology is based on finding alternatives to cover the gap between recent supplies and future demands. Nablus which is a main governorate located in the north of West Bank, Palestine, was selected as case study because this area is classified as arid to semi-arid area. In fact, GIS integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographic information. The resulted plan of Nablus represents an example of the proposed methodology implementation and a valid framework for the elaboration of a water master plan.

Development of a methodology to incorporate risk and uncertainty in electricity power planning

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia Industrial

Sistema de reposição e de gestão de inventários na rede de lojas de uma empresa de retalho de moda

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão Industrial

Gestão de fluxos de produção numa unidade cirúrgica de ambulatório

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia Industrial

Otimização do internamento no Hospital de Braga usando metodologia Kaizen

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Biomédica (área de especialização em Engenharia Clínica)

Segmentação do tecido tumoral cerebral em imagens de ressonância magnética

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Biomédica (área de especialização em Eletrónica Médica)

Estudo das necessidades de médicos especialistas na Região Norte de Portugal

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia Industrial

Alcohol-dependent patients receiving specialised outpatient care: an overview of gender issues

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study, with focus on gender, was aimed at evaluating alcohol-dependent individual in terms of socio-demographic variables related to alcohol consumption and therapeutic interventions. METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study of 1,051 patients (833 men and 218 women), with diagnosis of alcohol dependence syndrome, according to ICD-10 criteria, who had sought treatment for the first time at a specialised health centre between 2000 and 2006. RESULTS: The results showed that women, compared to men, are more likely to be unemployed and without partner, in addition to having higher educational level, latter age of alcohol initiation, needing less outpatient alcohol detoxification program, consuming more fermented beverage, presenting less psychiatric comorbidities, and using less coadjutant medications during treatment. CONCLUSION: We can state that some peculiarities exist permeating both gender and alcohol consumption. A further focus on the characteristics of each population is needed to facilitate the adequate use of therapeutic interventions according to gender specificities.

Quality of life assessment of patients with schizophrenic spectrum disorders from Psychosocial Care Centers

OBJECTIVE: Assessing the quality of life and the clinical and social-demographic factors associated in schizophrenic spectrum patients (ICD-10 F20-F29) attending CAPS at the programmatic area 3.0. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a sample of schizophrenic spectrum patients who have been enrolled in 2008 in CAPS in programmatic area (AP) 3 at Rio de Janeiro city, using MINIPLUS to assess schizophrenia spectrum disorder and use of psychoactive substances, Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) to assess psychiatric symptoms and Quality of Life Scale (QLS-BR) to assess the quality of life. RESULTS: Seventy nine patients were included, of whom 74 (93.7%) presented some impairment in quality of life. The most frequently affected area was occupational performance. Variables that showed a significant association with severe impairment of quality of life were: marital status, race, occupation, who patients lived with, homelessness, having children, previous psychiatric hospitalization, negative symptoms and symptoms designated as not applicable (being characterized by a lack of typical positive and negative symptoms). CONCLUSION: The knowledge of these factors should be crucial to implement health policies and psychosocial rehabilitation programs focused on improving the quality of life of these patients.

Análise do ciclo de vida usando Lourenço modelo: caso da cidade de Damasco (1960-2015)

Dissertação de mestrado Internacional em Ambiente Construído Sustentável

Psychiatric morbidity and quality of life of primary care attenders in two cities in Brazil

Objective: To identify the associations among quality of life (QoL), social determinants and psychological distress in primary care in two cities in Brazil. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 1,466 patients from 2009 to 2010. The statistical analysis used the t-test to compare the variables of interest to the study. Results: The prevalence of Common Mental Disorders (CMD3), severe forms of Common Mental Disorders (CMD5), anxiety and depression were 20.5%, 32%, 37% and 25.1% respectively. Thes presence of psychological distress is associated with worse QoL among the patients studied, especially those older than 40 years of age. In cases of CMD3, those with higher income and educational levels presented higher QoL in the psychical and psychological domains. For the cases of probable anxiety, those with higher educational levels presented lower scores on the physical and social relationship scores. Conclusion: Psychological distress can be associated with a worse QoL among those studied and can be influenced by socioeconomic conditions. Therefore, it is important to structure patient-centered help, which should also include patients’ social contexts.

Real-time monitoring of progression towards renal failure in primary care patients

First published online: December 16, 2014.