Response surface methodology applied to SPE for the determination of ibuprofen in various types of water samples

Over the last few years, there has been a growing concern about the presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment. The main objective of this study was to develop and validate an SPE method using surface response methodology for the determination of ibuprofen in different types of water samples. The influence of sample pH and sample volume on the ibuprofen recovery was studied. The effect of each studied independent variable is pronounced on the dependent variable (ibuprofen recovery). Good selectivity, extraction efficiency, and precision were achieved using 600 mL of sample volume with the pH adjusted to 2.2. LC with fluorescence detection was employed. The optimized method was applied to 20 water samples from the North and South of Portugal.

Choosing best components for an amputee: a methodology for the best decision-making

The harmony between the stump and the prosthesis is critical to allow it to fulfill its function enabling an efficient gait. A well fitted socket, with an efficient and comfortable suspension, allows the amputee to continue their daily living activities, maintaining the stump functional, making this correlation between socket and suspension very important in the functionality of the prosthesis, mobility and overall satisfaction with the device. Of our knowledge, the quantitative correlation between all of these factors as not yet been assessed. Aim of study: Verify and confirm the process of decision-making for four different trans-tibial prostheses with suspension systems: Hypobaric(A), PIN(B), Classic Suction(C) and Vacuum Active –VASS(D) according data provided by gait efficiency (mlO2/kg/m) imagiology (pistonning) and amputee perception.

A Design methodology for integrated inductor-based DC-DC converters

A design methodology for monolithic integration of inductor based DC-DC converters is proposed in this paper. A power loss model of the power stage, including the drive circuits, is defined in order to optimize efficiency. Based on this model and taking as reference a 0.35 mu m CMOS process, a buck converter was designed and fabricated. For a given set of operating conditions the defined power loss model allows to optimize the design parameters for the power stage, including the gate-driver tapering factor and the width of the power MOSFETs. Experimental results obtained from a buck converter at 100 MHz switching frequency are presented to validate the proposed methodology.

A Data-mining-based Methodology to support MV Electricity Customers' Characterization

This paper presents an electricity medium voltage (MV) customer characterization framework supportedby knowledge discovery in database (KDD). The main idea is to identify typical load profiles (TLP) of MVconsumers and to develop a rule set for the automatic classification of new consumers. To achieve ourgoal a methodology is proposed consisting of several steps: data pre-processing; application of severalclustering algorithms to segment the daily load profiles; selection of the best partition, corresponding tothe best consumers’ segmentation, based on the assessments of several clustering validity indices; andfinally, a classification model is built based on the resulting clusters. To validate the proposed framework,a case study which includes a real database of MV consumers is performed.

Realistic Traffic Scenarios Using a Census Methodology: Vila Real Case Study

This paper presents the first phase of the redevelopment of the Electric Vehicle Scenario Simulator (EVeSSi) tool. A new methodology to generate traffic demand scenarios for the Simulation of Urban MObility (SUMO) tool for urban traffic simulation is described. This methodology is based on a Portugal census database to generate a synthetic population for a given area under study. A realistic case study of a Portuguese city, Vila Real, is assessed. For this area the road network was created along with a synthetic population and public transport. The traffic results were obtained and an electric buses fleet was evaluated assuming that the actual fleet would be replaced in a near future. The energy requirements to charge the electric fleet overnight were estimated in order to evaluate the impacts that it would cause in the local electricity network.

Methodology for collaborative enterprise reference ontology building

Dissertation presented at Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia of Universidade Nova de Lisboa to obtain the Master degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

The CONCERTO methodology for model-based development of avionics SW

20th International Conference on Reliable Software Technologies - Ada-Europe 2015 (Ada-Europe 2015), 22 to 26, Jun, 2015, Madrid, Spain.

Effectiveness of house dust mite acaricide tri-n-butyl tin maleate on carpets, fabrics and mattress foam: a standardization of methodology

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the acaricide tri-n-butyl tin maleate, industrially applied to samples of carpets, mattress foam, and fabrics used for furniture upholstery, soft toys and shoe uppers. Approximately 100 adult house dust mites of the species Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus were inoculated into a Petri dish containing the sample (a piece of carpet, mattress foam, or fabric), treated with the acaricide, randomly collected. Mite-maintenance culture medium was added on top of each sample. After one, two, three, seven and 30 days of incubation at 25 ºC and 75% relative humidity, each dish was examined using a 40X stereoscopic microscope (40X). One hundred percent acaricide effectiveness was obtained in treated materials by the end of the 30th-day postinoculation period, under optimal conditions for mite maintenance.

Development of a SPE–UHPLC–MS/MS methodology for thedetermination of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and analgesicpharmaceuticals in seawaterPaula

An analytical methodology for the simultaneous determination of seven pharmaceuticals and two metabolites belonging to the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and analgesics therapeutic groups was developed based on off-line solid-phase extraction and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (SPE–UHPLC–MS/MS). Extraction conditions were optimized taking into account parameters like sorbent material, sample volume and sample pH. Method detection limits (MDLs) ranging from 0.02 to 8.18 ng/L were obtained. This methodology was successfully applied to the determination of the selected pharmaceuticals in seawater samples of Atlantic Ocean in the Northern Portuguese coast. All the pharmaceuticals have been detected in the seawater samples, with pharmaceuticals like ibuprofen, acetaminophen, ketoprofen and the metabolite hydroxyibuprofen being the most frequently detected at concentrations that can reach some hundreds of ng/L.

A Methodology for Creating an Adapted Command Language for Driving an Intelligent Wheelchair

Intelligent wheelchairs (IW) are technologies that can increase the autonomy and independence of elderly people and patients suffering from some kind of disability. Nowadays the intelligent wheelchairs and the human-machine studies are very active research areas. This paper presents a methodology and a Data Analysis System (DAS) that provides an adapted command language to an user of the IW. This command language is a set of input sequences that can be created using inputs from an input device or a combination of the inputs available in a multimodal interface. The results show that there are statistical evidences to affirm that the mean of the evaluation of the DAS generated command language is higher than the mean of the evaluation of the command language recommended by the health specialist (p value = 0.002) with a sample of 11 cerebral palsy users. This work demonstrates that it is possible to adapt an intelligent wheelchair interface to the user even when the users present heterogeneous and severe physical constraints.

Ontology methodology building criteria for crowdsourcing innovation intermediaries

Crowdsourcing innovation intermediaries are organizations that mediate the communication and relationship between companies that aspire to solve some problem or to take advantage of any business opportunity with a crowd that is prone to give ideas based on their knowledge, experience and wisdom. A significant part of the activity of these intermediaries is carried out by using a web platform that takes advantage of web 2.0 tools to implement its capabilities. Thus, ontologies are presented as an appropriate strategy to represent the knowledge inherent to this activity and therefore the accomplishment of interoperability between machines and systems. In this paper we present an ontology roadmap for developing crowdsourcing innovation ontology of the intermediation process. We start making a literature review on ontology building, analyze and compare ontologies that propose the development from scratch with the ones that propose reusing other ontologies, and present the criteria for selecting the methodology. We also review enterprise and innovation ontologies known in literature. Finally, are taken some conclusions and presented the roadmap for building crowdsourcing innovation intermediary ontology.

Lean, agile, resilient and green supply chain management interoperability assessment methodology

Dissertação para obtenção de grau de Mestre em Engenharia e Gestão Industrial (MEGI)

A eficiência energética nas redes de telecomunicações e tecnologias de informação e comunicação

A presente tese pretende fazer uma abordagem ao crescimento dos consumos de energia elétrica, que se tem verificado, nos últimos anos, no setor das telecomunicações e das tecnologias de informação; devido ao constante crescimento das redes, dos equipamentos a ela ligados e do tráfego que nelas transita. Num contexto de globalização da economia, no qual, as redes de telecomunicações e de energia elétrica são dois dos maiores contribuintes, a presente tese procura encontrar enquadramentos e soluções para um dos maiores desafios que a humanidade enfrenta atualmente, e que em parte, é consequente dessa globalização: encontrar novas fontes e formas de utilização da energia, -particularmente da energia elétrica - para que a humanidade continue a usufruir, de uma forma sustentável, dos benefícios que a mesma proporciona. Na primeira parte, procura-se fazer uma abordagem que utiliza fontes de informação e conhecimento, do mercado global, nomeadamente, entidades reguladoras e normalizadoras, operadores, fornecedores de tecnologias e consumidores, que abrangessem os três maiores mercados mundiais – União Europeia, Estados Unidos da América e Ásia-Pacífico. Considerou-se fundamental fazê-lo, por se tratar de uma dissertação no âmbito de um Mestrado com o selo de garantia EUR-ACE. Ao longo da dissertação analisou-se a temática da eficiência energética nas redes de telecomunicações e das tecnologias de informação e comunicação, um tema cada vez mais pertinente, já que o número de pessoas com ligações à Internet, já supera os 3 mil milhões, e as redes passaram a ser o meio por onde são transmitidos, a cada segundo, terabytes de sinais de voz, dados e vídeo. Procurou-se encontrar as linhas de orientação que estão a ser traçadas, para otimizar os consumos energéticos, de um complexo sistema convergente de redes e serviços, formado por entidades reguladoras e normalizadoras, operadores, fornecedores de tecnologias e consumidores, onde nem sempre as fronteiras estão perfeitamente definidas. Perante a constatação da realidade exposta, analisou-se as políticas energéticas desenvolvidas nos últimos anos, pelos vários players do mercado das telecomunicações, das tecnologias de informação e dos sistemas elétricos de energia bem como algumas métricas e objetivos comumente aceites. viii São analisados os contributos das partes interessadas, para o desenvolvimento de políticas energéticas eficazes, por forma a permitirem uma implementação, que considere o funcionamento dos equipamentos como um todo, e não de uma forma isolada como tradicionalmente o assunto era abordado. As especificidades na forma como funcionam as redes de telecomunicações e respetivos equipamentos, são expostas sobre várias óticas, comprovando-se que a temática da eficiência energética é uma das áreas mais difíceis lidar, de todas as consideradas nas políticas energéticas. Demonstrou-se que muitos dos equipamentos não estão otimizados em termos de gestão de energia, procurou-se evidenciar as consequências dessa realidade, uma vez que os equipamentos referidos, têm a necessidade de estar permanentemente a ser alimentados pela rede de energia elétrica, para garantir as funções para que foram projetados. Da pesquisa efetuada e descrita ao longo da dissertação, constatamos o empenho de toda a comunidade científica, operadores e agências de energia e de telecomunicações, em resolver o problema, já que há a consciencialização de que o ritmo de crescimento da rede e equipamentos terminais, é superior ao registado na melhoria da eficiência energética dos vários componentes e equipamentos terminais. Na segunda parte do relatório da tese, procurou-se testar a aplicabilidade das normas e recomendações dos organismos que tutelam a atividade a nível global - algumas publicadas nos últimos 2 anos - a um caso prático. Um edifício hospitalar de média dimensão. Foi elaborada uma aplicação informática, que suportada numa metodologia padronizada, seja capaz de fazer a avaliação da eficiência energética dos equipamentos serviços de telecomunicações de informação e comunicação em funcionamento do hospital. Por dificuldades de disponibilidade dos responsáveis do edifício, os resultados ficaram aquém do esperado. Conseguiu-se desenhar a aplicação, inventariar-se apenas parte dos equipamentos. Demonstrou-se que, a forma como alguns equipamentos estão a ser utilizados, não cumprem regras de utilização racional e eficiente. Procurou-se sensibilizar alguns dos responsáveis, para a necessidade de alterar comportamentos e prosseguir o processo de inventariação, por forma, a que o trabalho iniciado atinja os objetivos propostos.

Web competitive intelligence methodology

Master’s Degree Dissertation