The state of environmental performance evaluation in the public sector: the case of the Portuguese defence sector

Journal of Cleaner Production, nº 17, p. 36-52

Measuring data transfer in heterogeneous IoT environments

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

Designing and implementing a performance: The case of Estomeo – Dental Industry

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Thermal performance of cool facades: evaluation by Infrared Thermography

High reflective paints (cool paints) are used on flat roofs to reduce heat gains from the incidence of solar radiation and thus improve the thermal comfort and energy efficiency of buildings, especially in summer periods. Given the application potential of these paints on vertical surfaces, a research study has been developed to evaluate the thermal performance of reflective paints on walls under real exposure conditions. Accordingly, different reflective paints have been applied as the final coating of an ETICS type solution, on the facades of a full scale experimental cell built at LNEC campus. For being applied in an ETICS system a paint has to fulfill several requirements, whether aesthetic or functional (such as the adhesion between the coating layers or the durability of the insulation), essential for its efficient performance. Since this construction coating system is subject to a prolonged sun exposure, various problems may arise, such as paint degradation or deterioration of the thermal insulation properties, particularly when dark colors are applied. To evaluate the thermal performance of the chosen paints, the method of non-destructive analysis by Infrared Thermography was used. Thermography allows knowing the temperature distribution of facades by measuring the radiation emitted by their surfaces. To complement the thermographic diagnosis, thermocouples were placed between the insulation and the paint system of the experimental cell. Additional laboratory tests allowed the characterization of the optical properties (reflectance and emittance) of the different reflective paints used in this study. The comparative analysis of the thermal performance of reflective and conventional paints revealed that the reflective paint allows a reduction of the facade surface temperature, reducing the risk of loss of insulating properties of the ETICS system and thus ensuring its longevity and functionality. The color of the paint used affects, naturally, the reflective ability of the surface and may have an important role in energy balance of the building. This paper also showed the potential of infrared thermography in the evaluation of the thermal performance of reflective paints.

Measuring the impact of short and lending practices using the DGTW benchmarks

Mutual fund managers increasingly lend their holdings and/or use short sales to generate higher returns for their funds. This project presents a first look into the impact these practices on performance using the performance measures: i) Characteristic Selectivity (CS), the ability of the fund's managers to choose stocks that outperform their benchmarks; ii) Characteristic Timing (CT), the ability of the manager to time the market; iii) and Average Style (AS), the returns from funds systematically holding stocks with certain characteristics. These returns are computed through the DGTW benchmarks. The effect of other variables that have also been shown to impact fund’s returns – total net assets under management, investment styles, turnover and expense ratios – will also be analyzed. I find that managers who use short-sales do not exhibit better stock picking abilities than those who do not, while mutual funds that lend do present higher CS returns. In addition, while lending is not significant for the total performance of a fund, the employment of short-sales and of both short-sales and lending has a negative impact on the fund’s performance.

Vancomycin monitoring in term newborns: comparison of peak and trough serum concentrations determined by high performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence polarization immunoassay

INTRODUCTION: Peak and trough serum concentrations of vancomycin were determined in term newborn infants with confirmed or suspected Staphylococcus sp sepsis by high performance liquid chromatography and flourescence polarization immunoassay. OBJECTIVE: To statistically compare the results of the high performance liquid chromatography and flourescence polarization immunoassay techniques for measuring serum vancomycin concentrations. METHODS: Eighteen peak and 20 trough serum samples were assayed for vancomycin concentrations using high performance liquid chromatography and flourescence polarization immunoassay from October 1995 to October 1997. RESULTS: The linear correlation coefficients for high performance liquid chromatography and flourescence polarization immunoassay were 0.27 (peak, P = 0.110) and 0.26 (trough, P = 0.1045) respectively, which were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: There was wide variation in serum vancomycin concentrations determined by high performance liquid chromatography as compared with those determined by flourescence polarization immunoassay. There was no recognizable pattern in the variability; in an apparently random fashion, the high performance liquid chromatography measurement was sometimes substantially higher than the flourescence polarization immunoassay measurement, and at other times it was substantially lower.

Measuring end-to-end delay in real-time auralisation systems

One of the major challenges in the development of an immersive system is handling the delay between the tracking of the user’s head position and the updated projection of a 3D image or auralised sound, also called end-to-end delay. Excessive end-to-end delay can result in the general decrement of the “feeling of presence”, the occurrence of motion sickness and poor performance in perception-action tasks. These latencies must be known in order to provide insights on the technological (hardware/software optimization) or psychophysical (recalibration sessions) strategies to deal with them. Our goal was to develop a new measurement method of end-to-end delay that is both precise and easily replicated. We used a Head and Torso simulator (HATS) as an auditory signal sensor, a fast response photo-sensor to detect a visual stimulus response from a Motion Capture System, and a voltage input trigger as real-time event. The HATS was mounted in a turntable which allowed us to precisely change the 3D sound relative to the head position. When the virtual sound source was at 90º azimuth, the correspondent HRTF would set all the intensity values to zero, at the same time a trigger would register the real-time event of turning the HATS 90º azimuth. Furthermore, with the HATS turned 90º to the left, the motion capture marker visualization would fell exactly in the photo-sensor receptor. This method allowed us to precisely measure the delay from tracking to displaying. Moreover, our results show that the method of tracking, its tracking frequency, and the rendering of the sound reflections are the main predictors of end-to-end delay.

Personal and Social Performance (PSP) scale for patients with schizophrenia: translation to Portuguese, cross-cultural adaptation and interrater reliability

INTRODUCTION: Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder associated with impairment in social functioning. The most widely used scale to measure social functioning is the GAF (Global Assessment of Functioning), but it has the disadvantage of measuring at the same time symptoms and functioning, as described in its anchors. OBJECTIVES:Translation and cultural adaptation of the PSP, proposing a final version in Portuguese for use in Brazil. METHODS: We performed five steps: 1) translation; 2) back translation; 3) formal assessment of semantic equivalence; 4) debriefing; 5) analysis by experts. Interrater reliability (Intraclass correlation, ICC) between two raters was also measured. RESULTS: The final version was applied by two independent investigators in 18 adults with schizophrenia (DSM-IV-TR). The interrater reliability (ICC) was 0.812 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The translation and adaptation of the PSP had an adequate level of semantic equivalence between the Portuguese version and the original English version. There were no difficulties related to understanding the content expressed in the translated texts and terms. Its application was easy and it showed a good interrater reliability. The PSP is a valid instrument for the measurement of personal and social functioning in schizophrenia.

Correlation between turbidimetric and nephelometric methods of measuring C-reactive protein in patients with unstable angina or non-ST elevation acute myocardial infarction

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of the turbidimetric method of C-reactive protein (CRP) as a measure of low-grade inflammation in patients admitted with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes (ACS). METHODS: Serum samples obtained at hospital arrival from 68 patients (66±11 years, 40 men), admitted with unstable angina or non-ST elevation acute myocardial infarction were used to measure CRP by the methods of nephelometry and turbidimetry. RESULTS: The medians of C-reactive protein by the turbidimetric and nephelometric methods were 0.5 mg/dL and 0.47 mg/dL, respectively. A strong linear association existed between the 2 methods, according to the regression coefficient (b=0.75; 95% C.I.=0.70-0.80) and correlation coefficient (r=0.96; P<0.001). The mean difference between the nephelometric and turbidimetric CRP was 0.02 ± 0.91 mg/dL, and 100% agreement between the methods in the detection of high CRP was observed. CONCLUSION: In patients with non-ST elevation ACS, CRP values obtained by turbidimetry show a strong linear association with the method of nephelometry and perfect agreement in the detection of high CRP.

On Measuring the Efficiency of Monetary Policy

Cecchetti et al. (2006) develop a method for allocating macroeconomic performance changes among the structure of the economy, variability of supply shocks and monetary policy. We propose a dual approach of their method by borrowing well-known tools from production theory, namely the Farrell measure and the Malmquist index. Following FÄare et al (1994) we propose a decomposition of the efficiency of monetary policy. It is shown that the global efficiency changes can be rewritten as the product of the changes in macroeconomic performance, minimum quadratic loss, and efficiency frontier.

Measuring the Economic Significance of Structural Exchange Rate Models

This paper examines both the in-sample and out-of-sample performance of three monetary fundamental models of exchange rates and compares their out-of-sample performance to that of a simple Random Walk model. Using a data-set consisting of five currencies at monthly frequency over the period January 1980 to December 2009 and a battery of newly developed performance measures, the paper shows that monetary models do better (in-sample and out-of-sample forecasting) than a simple Random Walk model.

Measuring the Euro-Dollar Permanent Equilibrium Exchange Rate using the Unobserved Components Model

This paper employs an unobserved component model that incorporates a set of economic fundamentals to obtain the Euro-Dollar permanent equilibrium exchange rates (PEER) for the period 1975Q1 to 2008Q4. The results show that for most of the sample period, the Euro-Dollar exchange rate closely followed the values implied by the PEER. The only significant deviations from the PEER occurred in the years immediately before and after the introduction of the single European currency. The forecasting exercise shows that incorporating economic fundamentals provides a better long-run exchange rate forecasting performance than a random walk process.

Place marketing performance: benchmarking european cities as business destinations

The aim of this study is to develop a model measuring the performance of cities' marketing efforts. The model and the benchmarking methodology presented can be used by local authorities to position their marketing efforts and achievements against other (competing) cities and to identify best practices that can assist place marketers in learning how to be more efficient obtaining desired place marketing results, e.g., improved city brand image, with the available resources/budgets. The major implication for practitioners is that place marketing should be managed as a process, taking into account both the resource flows and the outputs, as well as the efficiency of this process.

A neuropsychological instrument measuring age-related cerebral decline in older drivers: development, reliability, and validity of MedDrive.

When facing age-related cerebral decline, older adults are unequally affected by cognitive impairment without us knowing why. To explore underlying mechanisms and find possible solutions to maintain life-space mobility, there is a need for a standardized behavioral test that relates to behaviors in natural environments. The aim of the project described in this paper was therefore to provide a free, reliable, transparent, computer-based instrument capable of detecting age-related changes on visual processing and cortical functions for the purposes of research into human behavior in computational transportation science. After obtaining content validity, exploring psychometric properties of the developed tasks, we derived (Study 1) the scoring method for measuring cerebral decline on 106 older drivers aged ≥70 years attending a driving refresher course organized by the Swiss Automobile Association to test the instrument's validity against on-road driving performance (106 older drivers). We then validated the derived method on a new sample of 182 drivers (Study 2). We then measured the instrument's reliability having 17 healthy, young volunteers repeat all tests included in the instrument five times (Study 3) and explored the instrument's psychophysical underlying functions on 47 older drivers (Study 4). Finally, we tested the instrument's responsiveness to alcohol and effects on performance on a driving simulator in a randomized, double-blinded, placebo, crossover, dose-response, validation trial including 20 healthy, young volunteers (Study 5). The developed instrument revealed good psychometric properties related to processing speed. It was reliable (ICC = 0.853) and showed reasonable association to driving performance (R (2) = 0.053), and responded to blood alcohol concentrations of 0.5 g/L (p = 0.008). Our results suggest that MedDrive is capable of detecting age-related changes that affect processing speed. These changes nevertheless do not necessarily affect driving behavior.

A validated assay for measuring doxorubicin in biological fluids and tissues in an isolated lung perfusion model: matrix effect and heparin interference strongly influence doxorubicin measurements.

Doxorubicin is an antineoplasic agent active against sarcoma pulmonary metastasis, but its clinical use is hampered by its myelotoxicity and its cumulative cardiotoxicity, when administered systemically. This limitation may be circumvented using the isolated lung perfusion (ILP) approach, wherein a therapeutic agent is infused locoregionally after vascular isolation of the lung. The influence of the mode of infusion (anterograde (AG): through the pulmonary artery (PA); retrograde (RG): through the pulmonary vein (PV)) on doxorubicin pharmacokinetics and lung distribution was unknown. Therefore, a simple, rapid and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography method has been developed to quantify doxorubicin in four different biological matrices (infusion effluent, serum, tissues with low or high levels of doxorubicin). The related compound daunorubicin was used as internal standard (I.S.). Following a single-step protein precipitation of 500 microl samples with 250 microl acetone and 50 microl zinc sulfate 70% aqueous solution, the obtained supernatant was evaporated to dryness at 60 degrees C for exactly 45 min under a stream of nitrogen and the solid residue was solubilized in 200 microl of purified water. A 100 microl-volume was subjected to HPLC analysis onto a Nucleosil 100-5 microm C18 AB column equipped with a guard column (Nucleosil 100-5 microm C(6)H(5) (phenyl) end-capped) using a gradient elution of acetonitrile and 1-heptanesulfonic acid 0.2% pH 4: 15/85 at 0 min-->50/50 at 20 min-->100/0 at 22 min-->15/85 at 24 min-->15/85 at 26 min, delivered at 1 ml/min. The analytes were detected by fluorescence detection with excitation and emission wavelength set at 480 and 550 nm, respectively. The calibration curves were linear over the range of 2-1000 ng/ml for effluent and plasma matrices, and 0.1 microg/g-750 microg/g for tissues matrices. The method is precise with inter-day and intra-day relative standard deviation within 0.5 and 6.7% and accurate with inter-day and intra-day deviations between -5.4 and +7.7%. The in vitro stability in all matrices and in processed samples has been studied at -80 degrees C for 1 month, and at 4 degrees C for 48 h, respectively. During initial studies, heparin used as anticoagulant was found to profoundly influence the measurements of doxorubicin in effluents collected from animals under ILP. Moreover, the strong matrix effect observed with tissues samples indicate that it is mandatory to prepare doxorubicin calibration standard samples in biological matrices which would reflect at best the composition of samples to be analyzed. This method was successfully applied in animal studies for the analysis of effluent, serum and tissue samples collected from pigs and rats undergoing ILP.