A emigração portuguesa e chinesa em perspectiva comparada

Dissertação de mestrado em Estudos Internacionais Português/Chinês: Tradução, Formação e Comunicação Empresarial

Estudos comparativos sobre o envelhecimento nos contextos chinês e português

Dissertação de mestrado em Estudos Interculturais Português/Chinês: Tradução, Formação e Comunicação Empresarial

The role of monocarboxylate transporters in 3-bromopyruvate effect in cancer cells

Tese de Doutoramento em Biologia Molecular e Ambiental (área de especialização em Biologia Molecular e Saúde).

Evaluation of antimicrobial strategies against biomaterial-associated infections: impact of the surrounding environmental conditions

Dissertação de mestrado em Bioengenharia

Intra-His bundle block: clinical, electrocardiographic, and electrophysiologic characteristics

OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical, electrocardiographic, and electrophysiologic characteristics of patients (pt) with intra-His bundle block undergoing an electrophysiologic study (EPS). METHODS: We analyzed the characteristics of 16 pt with second-degree atrioventricular block and symptoms of syncope or dyspnea, or both, undergoing conventional EPS. RESULTS: Intra-His bundle block was documented in 16 pt during an EPS. In 15 (94%) pt, the atrioventricular block was recorded in sinus rhythm; 4 (25%) pt had intra-His Wenckebach phenomenon, which correlated with Mobitz I (MI) atrioventricular block on the electrocardiogram. Seven (44%) pt had 2:1 atrioventricular block, 2 of whom were asymptomatic (12.5%). One (6%) pt had intra- and infra-His bundle block. Clinically, 11 (68%) pt had syncope or presyncope, 3 (18%) had dyspnea on exertion, and 2 (12.5%) were asymptomatic. Eight (50%) pt had bundle-branch block as follows: 4 (25%) pt had left bundle-branch block, and 4 (25%) had right bundle-branch block. Left anterosuperior divisional block was observed in 3 pt (19%), 2 of whom with associated right bundle-branch block. CONCLUSION: Intra-His bundle block was observed in 11% of the pt with second-degree atrioventricular block, syncope or presyncope, or both, it being the most frequent clinical presentation. Intra-His bundle block was more common in the elderly (> 60 years) and among females. The most frequent electrocardiographic presentations were second-degree Mobitz I or type 2:1 atrioventricular block.

Abordagem e maneio médico-cirúrgico de feridas abertas em cães e gatos : caracterização etiológica e estudo de padrões traumáticos

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina Veterinária

O sexo e a Cidade e as marcas: análise dos efeitos do product placement nos jovens portugueses

Dissertação de Mestrado em Comunicação Social

The Irish Pub: past, present – whither the future?

The purpose of this research is to examine the main economic, legislative, and socio- cultural factors that are currently influencing the pub trade in Ireland and their specific impact on a sample of publicans in both Galway city and county. In approaching this task the author engaged in a comprehensive literature review on the origin, history and evolution of the Irish pub; examined the socio-cultural and economic role of the public house in Ireland and developed a profile of the Irish pub by undertaking a number of semi-structured interviews with pub owners from the area. In doing so, the author obtained the views and opinions of the publicans on the current state of their businesses, the extent to which patterns of trade have changed over recent years, the challenges and factors currently influencing their trade, the actions they believed to be necessary to promote the trade and address perceived difficulties and how they viewed the future of the pub business within the framework of the current regulatory regime. In light of this research, the author identified a number of key findings and put forward a series of recommendations designed to promote the future success and development of the pub trade in Ireland. The research established that public houses are currently operating under a very unfavourable regulatory framework that has resulted in the serious decline of the trade over the last decade. This decline appears to have coincided initially with the introduction of the ban on smoking in the workplace and was exacerbated further by the advent of more severe drink-driving laws, especially mandatory breath testing. Other unfavourable conditions include the high levels of excise duty, value added tax and local authority commercial rates. In addition to these regulatory factors, the research established that a major impediment to the pub trade is the unfair competition from supermarkets and other off-licence retail outlets and especially to the phenomenon of the below-cost selling of alcohol. The recession has also been a major contributory factor to the decline in the trade as also has been the trend towards lifestyle changes and home drinking mirroring the practice in some continental European countries.

What value can be attached to a concept of mystery and has it a place in contemporary Western culture?

The idea for this thesis arose from a chain of reactions first set in motion by a particular experience. In keeping with the contemporary need to deconstruct every phenomenon it seemed important to analyse this experience in the hope of a satisfactory explanation. The experience referred to is the aesthetic experience provoked by works of art. The plan for the thesis involved trying to establish whether the aesthetic experience is unique and individual, or whether it is one that is experienced universally. Each question that arises in the course of this exploration promotes a dialectical reaction. I rely on the history of aesthetics as a philosophical discipline to supply the answers. This study concentrates on the efforts by philosophers and critical theorists to understand the tensions between the empirical and the emotional, the individual and the universal responses to the sociological, political and material conditions that prevail and are expressed through the medium of art. What I found is that the history of aesthetics is full of contradictory evidence and cannot provide a dogmatic solution to the questions posed. In fact what is indicated is that the mystery that attaches to the aesthetic experience is one that can also apply to the spiritual or transcendent experience. The aim of this thesis is to support the contribution of visual art in the spiritual well being of human development and supports the uniqueness of the evaluation and aesthetic judgement by the individual of a work of art. I suggest that mystery will continue to be of value in the holistic development of human beings and this mystery can be expressed through visual art. Furthermore, this thesis might suggest that what could be looked at is whether a work of art may be redemptive in its affect and offset the current decline in affective religious practice.

A study of the interaction between national and corporate culture in a selection of Irish based companies

This research studies the phenomenon of national and corporate culture. National culture is the culture the members of a country share and corporate culture is a subculture which members of an organisation share (Schein, 1992). The objective of this research is to reveal if the employees within equivalent Irish and American companies share the same corporate and national culture and to ascertain if, within each company, there is a link between national culture and corporate culture. The object of this study is achieved by replicating research which was conducted by Shing (1997) in Taiwan. Hypotheses and analytical tools developed by Shing are employed in the current study to allow comparison of results between Shing’s study and the current study. The methodology used, called for the measurement and comparison of national and corporate culture in two equivalent companies within the same industry. The two companies involved in this study are both located in Ireland and are of American and Irish origin. A sample of three hundred was selected and the response rate was 54%. The findings from this research are: (1) The two companies involved had different corporate cultures, (2) They had the same national culture, (3) There was no link between national culture and corporate culture within either company, (4) The findings were not similar to those of Shing (1997). The implication of these findings is that national and corporate culture are separate phenomena therefore corporate culture is not a response to national culture. The results of this research are not reflected in the finding’s of Shing (1997), therefore they are context specific. The core recommendation for management is that, corporate culture should take account of national culture. This is because although employees recognise the espoused values of corporate culture (Schein, 1992), they are at the same time influenced by a much stronger force, their national culture.

Optimisation of a surface mount technology process using a SnAgCu lead-free alloy

The impending introduction of lead-free solder in the manufacture of electrical and electronic products has presented the electronics industry with many challenges. European manufacturers must transfer from a tin-lead process to a lead-free process by July 2006 as a result of the publication of two directives from the European Parliament. Tin-lead solders have been used for mechanical and electrical connections on printed circuit boards for over fifty years and considerable process knowledge has been accumulated. Extensive literature reviews were conducted on the topic and as a result it was found there are many implications to be considered with the introduction of lead-free solder. One particular question that requires answering is; can lead-free solder be used in existing manufacturing processes? The purpose of this research is to conduct a comparative study of a tin-lead solder and a lead-free solder in two key surface mount technology (SMT) processes. The two SMT processes in question were the stencil printing process and the reflow soldering process. Unreplicated fractional factorial experimental designs were used to carry out the studies. The quality of paste deposition in terms of height and volume were the characteristics of interest in the stencil printing process. The quality of solder joints produced in the reflow soldering experiment was assessed using x-ray and cross sectional analysis. This provided qualitative data that was then uniquely scored and weighted using a method developed during the research. Nested experimental design techniques were then used to analyse the resulting quantitative data. Predictive models were developed that allowed for the optimisation of both processes. Results from both experiments show that solder joints of comparable quality to those produced using tin-lead solder can be produced using lead-free solder in current SMT processes.

Крупные оползнево-гравитационные явления, как подтверждающий феномен ареала возможного возникновения сильных землетрясений (на примере южного кавказа)

ნაშრომში წარმოდგენილია საქართველოს ტერიტორიაზე ცალკეული მონაკვეთებისათვის არსებული მასალების განზოგადებისა და საველე გეოლოგიურ-გემორფოლოგიური და სეისმოტექნიკური გამოკვლევების რეზულტატები. ამ გამოკვლევების შედეგად გამოვლენილ იქნა აქამდე უცნობი სრულიად ახალგაზრდა ტექტონიკური დეფორმაციული, როგორც ტერასულ დანალექ, ასევე ძირითად კლდოვან ქანებში და მათთან დაკავშირებული სეისმოგენური მეწყერულ-გრავიტაციული წარმონაქმნები.

Явление пересоединения магнитных силовых линий в лобовой области магнитосферы в рамках Топологического формализма

მაგნიტოსფეროს შუბლა არეში საპლანეტათაშორისო მაგნიტური ველისა და გეომაგნიტური ველის სასაზღვრო ძალწირების გადაერთების მოვლენის მოდელირებისათვის გამოყენებულია ალგებრული მრუდების თეორია. გადაერთების შემდეგ მიღებული მაგნიტური ველის ტოპოლოგიური სურათის მიხედვით, სავალდებულო არ არის მაგნიტოსფეროს საზღვრის ეროზია და მისი შიდა სტრუქტურების შეშფოთების გამომწვევი ენერგეტიკული არხის გახსნა.

Trombectomia adjunta em intervenção percutânea primária para infarto agudo do miocárdio

A intervenção coronariana percutânea (ICP) primária tem se tornado a estratégia favorita para reperfusão em infarto agudo do miocárdio com elevação do segmento ST (STEMI). Um grau mais baixo de perfusão miocárdica pós-ICP, no-reflow e até trombose de stent farmacológico tem sido relacionados à presença de trombo intracoronário. A trombectomia adjunta refere-se a procedimentos e dispositivos que removem o material trombótico da artéria associada ao infarto, em teoria, antes que a embolização distal possa ocorrer. Há significante variabilidade entre estudos controlados randomizados de trombectomia em ICP primária em relação aos dispositivos testados, características dos procedimentos, terapia médica adjuvante e desfechos analisados. Em geral, melhoras nos endpoints de perfusão miocárdica não são traduzidas em reduções nos desfechos clínicos. Ainda assim, um número crescente de estudos com maior tempo de seguimento relatou benefícios tardios após o infarto do miocárdio inicial. Cateteres de aspiração simples também podem produzir melhores desfechos do que dispositivos que fragmentam o trombo antes de aspirar os resíduos. As variáveis clínicas ou angiográficas que melhor predizem os benefícios do uso da trombectomia ainda precisam ser definidas. O objetivo dessa revisão é dar uma perspectiva sobre as conclusões de estudos disponíveis e meta-análises de trombectomia adjunta em infarto agudo do miocárdio. Também são discutidos os objetivos para futuros estudos.

Elevated Blood Pressure and Obesity in Childhood: A Cross-Sectional Evaluation of 4,609 Schoolchildren

Background: The incidence of obesity in children is increasing worldwide, primarily in urbanized, high-income countries, and hypertension development is a detrimental effect of this phenomenon. Objective: In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the prevalence of excess weight and its association with high blood pressure (BP) in schoolchildren. Methods: Here 4,609 male and female children, aged 6 to 11 years, from 24 public and private schools in Maringa, Brazil, were evaluated. Nutritional status was assessed by body mass index (BMI) according to cutoff points adjusted for sex and age. Blood pressure (BP) levels above 90th percentile for gender, age and height percentile were considered elevated. Results: The prevalence of excess weight among the schoolchildren was 24.5%; 16.9% were overweight, and 7.6% were obese. Sex and socioeconomic characteristics were not associated with elevated BP. In all age groups, systolic and diastolic BP correlated with BMI and waist and hip measurements, but not with waist-hip ratio. The prevalence of elevated BP was 11.2% in eutrophic children, 20.6% in overweight children [odds ratio (OR), 1.99; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.61-2.45], and 39.7% in obese children (OR, 5.4; 95% CI, 4.23-6.89). Conclusion: Obese and overweight children had a higher prevalence of elevated BP than normal-weight children. Our data confirm that the growing worldwide epidemic of excess weight and elevated BP in schoolchildren may also be ongoing in Brazil.