Numerical Assessment of the out-of-plane response of a brick masonry structure without box behaviour

This paper presents the assessment of the out-of-plane response due to seismic loading of a masonry structure without rigid diaphragm. This structure corresponds to real scale brick masonry specimen with a main façade connected to two return walls. Two modelling approaches were defined for this evaluation. The first one consisted on macro modelling, whereas the second one on simplified micro modelling. As a first step of this study, static nonlinear analyses were conducted to the macro model aiming at evaluating the out-of-plane response and failure mechanism of the masonry structure. A sensibility analyses was performed in order to assess the mesh size and material model dependency. In addition, the macro models were subjected to dynamic nonlinear analyses with time integration in order to assess the collapse mechanism. Finally, these analyses were also applied to a simplified micro model of the masonry structure. Furthermore, these results were compared to experimental response from shaking table tests. It was observed that these numerical techniques simulate correctly the in-plane behaviour of masonry structures. However, the

Using customer lifetime value to improve the prediction of bank deposit subscription in telemarketing campaigns

Customer lifetime value (LTV) enables using client characteristics, such as recency, frequency and monetary (RFM) value, to describe the value of a client through time in terms of profitability. We present the concept of LTV applied to telemarketing for improving the return-on-investment, using a recent (from 2008 to 2013) and real case study of bank campaigns to sell long- term deposits. The goal was to benefit from past contacts history to extract additional knowledge. A total of twelve LTV input variables were tested, un- der a forward selection method and using a realistic rolling windows scheme, highlighting the validity of five new LTV features. The results achieved by our LTV data-driven approach using neural networks allowed an improvement up to 4 pp in the Lift cumulative curve for targeting the deposit subscribers when compared with a baseline model (with no history data). Explanatory knowledge was also extracted from the proposed model, revealing two highly relevant LTV features, the last result of the previous campaign to sell the same product and the frequency of past client successes. The obtained results are particularly valuable for contact center companies, which can improve pre- dictive performance without even having to ask for more information to the companies they serve.

Melhoria da eficiência energética em edifícios dos anos 70: implementação de soluções sustentáveis low-tech e low-cost

Dissertação de mestrado em Construção e Reabilitação Sustentáveis

Reverse engineering of web applications

The MAP-i Doctoral Program of the Universities of Minho, Aveiro and Porto

Inovação como fator de competitividade da cadeia de valor da moda

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia Têxtil

Sodium chloride added to transport water and physiological responses of Matrinxã Brycon amazonicus (Teleost: Characidae)

The addition of salt to the water has been used to mitigate stress and improve survival in fishes. This study investigated the effects of sodium chloride (0.0, 1.0, 3.0 and 6.0 g/l) on levels of plasma cortisol, glucose, tryacilglycerol, total protein, hematocrit, hemoglobin, erythrocyte number, liver glycogen and lipid, and muscle lipid in adult matrinxã(Brycon amazonicum) after a 4-h transport and during a 96-h recovery period. Fish were sampled before and after transport, and 24 and 96 h of the recovery period. Plasma cortisol was higher than initial condition immediately after transportation, except in fish transported in 3.0 and 6.0 g/l of salt. A similar pattern was observed for blood glucose but fish transported in water with 0.0, 1.0 and 3.0 g/l of salt needed more than 24 h to return to the initial condition. Liver glycogen was lower after transport in fish not exposed to salt. Hemoglobin, erythrocyte number, total plasma protein and liver lipid did not change during the experiment but hematocrit was lower after transport in all treatments and returned to pre-transport values in 24 h. Reductions of muscle lipid and plasma tryacilglycerol were observed during the recovery period in fish from all treatments. The results show that 6.0 g/l NaCl added to the transport water reduce the stress responses and a 96-h recovery period is needed if no salt is used to mitigate the stress.

Resolução da ambivalência em terapia narrativa

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia

Improving buildings energy performance: comparison between simple payback period and life cycle costs analysis

The building sector is one of the Europeâ s main energy consumer, making buildings an important target for a wiser energy use, improving indoor comfort conditions and reducing the energy consumption. To achieve the European Union targets for energy consumption and carbon reductions it is crucial to act in new, but also in existing buildings, which constitute the majority of the building stock. In existing buildings, the significant improvement of their efficiency requires important investments. Therefore, costs are a major concern in the decision making process and the analysis of the cost effectiveness of the interventions is an important path in the guidance for the selection of the different renovation scenarios. The Portuguese thermal legislation considers the simple payback method for the calculations of the time for the return of the investment. However, this method does not take into consideration inflation, cash flows and cost of capital, as well as the future costs of energy and the building elements lifetime as it happens in a life cycle cost analysis. In order to understand the impact of the economic analysis method used in the choice of the renovation measures, a case study has been analysed using simple payback calculations and life cycle costs analysis. Overall results show that less far-reaching renovation measures are indicated when using the simple payback calculations which may be leading to solutions less cost-effective in a long run perspective.

Physiological stress responses in the warm-water fish matrinxã (Brycon amazonicus ) subjected to a sudden cold shock

The present work evaluated several aspects of the generalized stress response [endocrine (cortisol), metabolic (glucose), hematologic (hematocrit and hemoglobin) and cellular (HSP70)] in the Amazonian warm-water fish matrinxã (Brycon amazonicus ) subjected to an acute cold shock. This species farming has been done in South America, and growth and feed conversion rates have been interesting. However, in subtropical areas of Brazil, where the water temperature can rapidly change, high rates of matrinxã mortality have been associated with abrupt decrease in the water temperature. Thus, we subjected matrinxã to a sudden cold shock by transferring the fish directly to tanks in which the water temperature was 10ºC below the initial conditions (cold shock from 28ºC to 18ºC). After 1h the fish were returned to the original tanks (28ºC). The handling associated with tank transfer was also imposed on control groups (not exposed to cold shock). While exposure to cold shock did not alter the measured physiological conditions within 1h, fish returned to the ambient condition (water at 28º C) significantly increased plasma cortisol and glucose levels. Exposure to cold shock and return to the warm water did not affect HSP70 levels. The increased plasma cortisol and glucose levels after returning the fish to warm water suggest that matrinxã requires cortisol and glucose for adaptation to increased temperature.

Os fatores de risco da rendibilidade das ações: análise e evidência empírica em países da Zona Euro

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências Empresariais.

Desenvolvimento de rede neuronal artificial para o diagnóstico de doenças neurodegenerativas

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Eletrónica Industrial e Computadores

Análise comparativa do consumo de biomassa para fins energéticos

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Mecânica

Consumption, wealth, stock and housing returns: evidence from emerging markets

We test the predictive ability of the transitory deviations of consumption from its common trend with aggregate wealth and labour income, cay, for both future equity and housing risk premia in emerging market economies. Using quarterly data for 31 markets, our country-level evidence shows that forecasting power of cay vis-à-vis stock returns is high for Brazil, China, Colombia, Israel, Korea, Latvia and Malaysia. As for housing returns, the empirical evidence suggests that financial and housing assets are perceived as complements in the case of Chile, Russia, South Africa and Thailand, and as substitutes in Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico and Taiwan. Using a panel econometric framework, we find that the cross-country heterogeneity observed in asset return predictability does not accrue to regional location, but can be attributed to differences in the degree of equity market development and in the level of income.

Modelação de governo electrónico para países emergentes: O caso de São Tomé e Príncipe

Tese de Doutoramento em Tecnologias e Sistemas de Informação

Previsão de cheias em Barcelos

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil