O impacto económico do Porto de Ponta Delgada

Dissertação de Mestrado, Gestão de Empresas (MBA), 26 de Fevereiro de 2016, Universidade dos Açores.

Sistema de apoio à geração de ideias em grupo considerando as emoções e os aspectos sociais

As emoções dos indivíduos e o contexto social do grupo onde estes estão inseridos têm influência no seu desempenho no que se refere ao desenvolvimento de várias tarefas, incluindo as que são realizadas via electrónica. O processo de geração de ideias em grupo mediado por computador tem vantagens consideráveis em relação ao processo de geração de ideias em grupo tradicional, nomeadamente no que se refere ao aumento da sinergia entre os elementos do grupo, à existência da memória de grupo e à possibilidade dos elementos estarem dispersos no espaço e no tempo. Com isto em mente, o presente trabalho pretende analisar a importância do estado de espírito do participante e a influência que os vários aspectos sociais têm no participante, para assim ser possível tomar determinadas acções com o objectivo de potenciar o desempenho dos utilizadores ao longo da reunião de geração de ideias. Neste trabalho é analisada a influência que o estado de espírito dos participantes e o contexto social das reuniões podem ter no sucesso de uma reunião de geração de ideias electrónica. Considerando a influência de estes factores, é proposto um modelo que inclui essas variáveis no processo de geração de ideias em grupo mediado por computador. Com isto pretende-se demonstrar que a inclusão do modelo proposto numa ferramenta de apoio à geração de ideias em grupo permite melhorar o desempenho individual e consequentemente o desempenho do grupo, bem como a interacção entre todos os elementos. Assim, este trabalho pretende gerar sugestões com o objectivo de manter os participantes atentos e motivados para as tarefas que têm de realizar, nomeadamente a tarefa de geração de ideias. Com o objectivo de aplicar o modelo proposto é também apresentado neste trabalho uma nova ferramenta de geração de ideias em computador que considera o contexto emocional e social da reunião, o S-IGTAI (Social Idea Generation Tool for Ambient Intelligence). Através das interacções entre os participantes e a ferramenta S-IGTAI, é recolhida informação que será o input do modelo proposto, sendo que o output serão as sugestões enviadas para o facilitador. Estas sugestões têm o propósito que o facilitador realize recomendações aos participantes no sentido de manter os seus estados de espírito num nível positivo e eliminar a influência negativa dos vários aspectos sociais, potenciando dessa forma o desempenho de todos os participantes. Com a finalidade de validar o modelo proposto e a nova ferramenta (S-IGTAI) é apresentado um caso de estudo neste documento que permite realizar a avaliação do trabalho desenvolvido.

Removing ambiguities in the neutrino mass matrix

We suggest that the weak-basis independent condition det(M-nu) = 0 for the effective neutrino mass matrix can be used in order to remove the ambiguities in the reconstruction of the neutrino mass matrix from input data available from present and future feasible experiments. In this framework, we study the full reconstruction of M-nu with special emphasis on the correlation between the Majorana CP-violating phase and the various mixing angles. The impact of the recent KamLAND results on the effective neutrino mass parameter is also briefly discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of airborne particles generated from metal active gas welding process

This study is focused on the characterization of particles emitted in the metal active gas welding of carbon steel using mixture of Ar + CO2, and intends to analyze which are the main process parameters that influence the emission itself. It was found that the amount of emitted particles (measured by particle number and alveolar deposited surface area) are clearly dependent on the distance to the welding front and also on the main welding parameters, namely the current intensity and heat input in the welding process. The emission of airborne fine particles seems to increase with the current intensity as fume-formation rate does. When comparing the tested gas mixtures, higher emissions are observed for more oxidant mixtures, that is, mixtures with higher CO2 content, which result in higher arc stability. These mixtures originate higher concentrations of fine particles (as measured by number of particles by cm 3 of air) and higher values of alveolar deposited surface area of particles, thus resulting in a more severe worker's exposure.

Sintonia de controladores baseada em Sistemas de Inferência Difusa

Este trabalho de pesquisa e desenvolvimento tem como fundamento principal o Conceito de Controlo por Lógica Difusa. Utilizando as ferramentas do software Matlab, foi possível desenvolver um controlador com base na inferência difusa que permitisse controlar qualquer tipo de sistema físico real, independentemente das suas características. O Controlo Lógico Difuso, do inglês “Fuzzy Control”, é um tipo de controlo muito particular, pois permite o uso simultâneo de dados numéricos com variáveis linguísticas que tem por base o conhecimento heurístico dos sistemas a controlar. Desta forma, consegue-se quantificar, por exemplo, se um copo está “meio cheio” ou “meio vazio”, se uma pessoa é “alta” ou “baixa”, se está “frio” ou “muito frio”. O controlo PID é, sem dúvida alguma, o controlador mais amplamente utilizado no controlo de sistemas. Devido à sua simplicidade de construção, aos reduzidos custos de aplicação e manutenção e aos resultados que se obtêm, este controlador torna-se a primeira opção quando se pretende implementar uma malha de controlo num determinado sistema. Caracterizado por três parâmetros de ajuste, a saber componente proporcional, integral e derivativa, as três em conjunto permitem uma sintonia eficaz de qualquer tipo de sistema. De forma a automatizar o processo de sintonia de controladores e, aproveitando o que melhor oferece o Controlo Difuso e o Controlo PID, agrupou-se os dois controladores, onde em conjunto, como poderemos constatar mais adiante, foram obtidos resultados que vão de encontro com os objectivos traçados. Com o auxílio do simulink do Matlab, foi desenvolvido o diagrama de blocos do sistema de controlo, onde o controlador difuso tem a tarefa de supervisionar a resposta do controlador PID, corrigindo-a ao longo do tempo de simulação. O controlador desenvolvido é denominado por Controlador FuzzyPID. Durante o desenvolvimento prático do trabalho, foi simulada a resposta de diversos sistemas à entrada em degrau unitário. Os sistemas estudados são na sua maioria sistemas físicos reais, que representam sistemas mecânicos, térmicos, pneumáticos, eléctricos, etc., e que podem ser facilmente descritos por funções de transferência de primeira, segunda e de ordem superior, com e sem atraso.

O cinema como ferramenta andragógica para a terceira idade: o Projeto CINAGE

The demographics of the early 21st century in Europe point to a notorious ageing of the population of most countries. Consequently, elderly people tend to be considered a social burden for the national healthcare and social security systems and their desire to participate actively in the civic and cultural activities of their countries is ignored. The first response to demographic ageing should therefore be a change in mentalities, which is what the area of gerontology is all about. It was in this context that the European Project CINAGE - European Cinema for Active Ageing was created. It is a transnational project, promoted by Portugal, and partnered by UK, Italy and Slovenia, oriented for the creation of a cinema course for elders and directly supported by filmic tools, within an andragogical self-reflexive approach. The modules of this course will be created on the basis of European cinematic examples and the input of focus groups consisting of experts in andragogy, active ageing, cinema and elders. In the end, twelve short films will be produced by senior members of the CINAGE course. We aim to present the project CINAGE in all its characteristics and thus reveal a way in which cinema can positively contribute to a more active ageing and the maintenance of mental health in later stages of life. It is relevant to consider what films Europe has been lately producing on this subject. We will use some of them to explain and corroborate our point of view and the project itself.

Modelling and segmentation of the vocal tract during speech production by using deformable models in magnetic resonance images

The first and second authors would like to thank the support of the PhD grants with references SFRH/BD/28817/2006 and SFRH/PROTEC/49517/2009, respectively, from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnol ogia (FCT). This work was partially done in the scope of the project “Methodologies to Analyze Organs from Complex Medical Images – Applications to Fema le Pelvic Cavity”, wi th reference PTDC/EEA- CRO/103320/2008, financially supported by FCT.

Prevalence and correlates of physical activity among adolescents from Southern Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence and identify correlates of physical activity among adolescents. METHODS: Cross-sectional study nested within a cohort of 4,325 subjects from the city of Pelotas, Southern Brazil, aged 14-15 years in 2008. Physical activity was analyzed using three different approaches: (1) prevalence of any leisure-time physical activity; (2) prevalence of any active commuting to school; and (3) prevalence of engaging in at least 300 minutes per week of both (1) and (2) combined. Independent variables included sociodemographic, behavioral, social, and biological characteristics, and number of different leisure-time physical activites practiced. Statistical analyses were carried out using Poisson regression. RESULTS: The proportion of adolescents involved in any type of leisure-time physical activity was 75.6%, while 73.4% displayed some form of active commuting to school. Prevalence of total physical activity score (> 300 min/week) was 48.2%, being greater among boys (62.6%) than among girls (34.5%). Furthermore, prevalence increased along with the number of physical activity modalities practiced (p<0.001). Factors associated with greater physical activity (leisure + commuting) at the recommended levels were: nonwhite skin color, having failed at school, and playing videogames. Lower socioeconomic status, more time spent on the computer, and parental physical activity were associated with the outcome only among girls. CONCLUSIONS: Less than half the adolescents reached recommended levels of physical activity, and this proportion tended to decrease among subjects with higher socioeconomic level. Associated factors were different for leisure-time and commuting. Engaging in a wide variety of physical activities should be encouraged already during childhood.

Automatic synthesis of VHDL Hardware Components from IOPT Petri Net models

Conferência: 39th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial-Electronics-Society (IECON), Vienna, Austria, Nov 10-14, 2013

Permanent vascular access in patients with end-stage renal disease, Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To assess factors associated with the establishment of permanent vascular access for patients with end-stage renal disease. METHODS: Cross-sectional study conducted in a nationally representative sample of Brazilian end-stage renal disease patients in dialysis and transplant centers during 2007. The sample comprised only patients who received hemodialysis as a primary therapy modality and reported the type of vascular access for their primary hemodialysis treatment (N=2,276). Data were from the TRS Project - "Economic and Epidemiologic Evaluation of Modalities of Renal Replacement Therapy in Brazil". Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess factors associated with the establishment of permanent vascular access in these patients. RESULTS: About 30% of the patients studied had an arteriovenous vascular access. The following factors were associated with a lower likelihood of having an arteriovenous vascular access as a primary type of access: time of hemodialysis start since the diagnosis of chronic renal failure < 1 year; shorter dialysis therapy; having no private health insurance; living in the central-western, northeastern and southeastern regions of Brazil; and living in the northern region plus having no private health insurance. In the final model there was found a positive association between the outcome and pre-dialysis care and no were association with socioeconomic and comorbidity variables. CONCLUSIONS: The study results showed that the focus should on pre-dialysis care to increase the establishment of an arteriovenous vascular access before starting hemodialysis in Brazil.

Hospitalization rates for pneumococcal disease in Brazil, 2004 - 2006

OBJECTIVE: To estimate hospitalization rates for pneumococcal disease based on the Brazilian Hospital Information System (SIH). METHODS: Descriptive study based on the Hospital Information System of Brazilian National Health System data from January 2004 to December 2006: number of hospitalizations and deaths for pneumococcal meningitis, pneumococcal sepsis, pneumococcal pneumonia and Streptococcus pneumoniae as the cause of diseases reported in Brazil. Data from the 2003 Brazilian National Household Survey were used to estimate events in the private sector. Pneumococcal meningitis cases and deaths reported to the Notifiable Diseases Information System during the study period were also analyzed. RESULTS: Pneumococcal disease accounted for 34,217 hospitalizations in the Brazilian National Health System (0.1% of all hospitalizations in the public sector). Pneumococcal pneumonia accounted for 64.8% of these hospitalizations. The age distribution of the estimated hospitalization rates for pneumococcal disease showed a "U"-shape curve with the highest rates seen in children under one (110 to 136.9 per 100,000 children annually). The highest hospital case-fatality rates were seen among the elderly, and for sepsis and meningitis. CONCLUSIONS: PD is a major public health problem in Brazil. The analysis based on the SIH can provide an important input to pneumococcal disease surveillance and the impact assessment of immunization programs.

Helical tomotherapy versus 3D conformal radiotherapy in dosimetric planning for patients with localized prostate cancer

Radiotherapy is one of the therapeutics selected for localized prostate cancer, in cases where the tumour is confined to the prostate, penetrates the prostatic capsule or has reached the seminal vesicles (T1 to T3 stages). The radiation therapy can be administered through various modalities, being historically used the 3D conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT). Other modality of radiation administration is the intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), that allows an increase of the total dose through modulation of the treatment beams, enabling a reduction in toxicity. One way to administer IMRT is through helical tomotherapy (TH). With this study we intent to analyze the advantages of helical tomotherapy when compared with 3DCRT, by evaluating the doses in the organs at risk (OAR) and planning target volumes (PTV).

Short- and medium-term effects of manual therapy on cervical active range of motion and pressure pain sensitivity in latent myofascial pain of the upper trapezius muscle: a randomized controlled trial

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of different manual techniques on cervical ranges of 17 motion and pressure pain sensitivity in subjects with latent trigger point of the upper trapezius muscle. 18 Methods: One hundred seventeen volunteers, with a unilateral latent trigger point on upper trapezius due to computer 19 work, were randomly divided into 5 groups: ischemic compression (IC) group (n = 24); passive stretching group (n = 20 23); muscle energy technique group (n = 23); and 2 control groups, wait-and-see group (n = 25) and placebo group 21 (n = 22). Cervical spine range of movement was measured using a cervical range of motion instrument as well as 22 pressure pain sensitivity by means of an algometer and a visual analog scale. Outcomes were assessed pretreatment, 23 immediately, and 24 hours after the intervention and 1 week later by a blind researcher. A 4 × 5 mixed repeated- 24 measures analysis of variance was used to examine the effects of the intervention and Cohen d coefficient was used. 25 Results: A group-by-time interaction was detected in all variables (P b .01), except contralateral rotation. The 26 immediate effect sizes of the contralateral flexion, ipsilateral rotation, and pressure pain threshold were large for 3 27 experimental groups. Nevertheless, after 24 hours and 1 week, only IC group maintained the effect size. 28 Conclusions: Manual techniques on upper trapezius with latent trigger point seemed to improve the cervical range of 29 motion and the pressure pain sensitivity. These effects persist after 1 week in the IC group. (J Manipulative Physiol 301 Ther 2013;xx:1-10)

Efeitos auditivos em doentes com tumores de cabeça e pescoço e tumores cerebrais sujeitos a Radioterapia e terapia combinada

Introdução: A capacidade auditiva dos doentes com neoplasias de cabeça e pescoço e tumores cerebrais pode ser comprometida com os tratamentos antineoplásicos realizados. A Quimioterapia com cisplatina pode provocar perda auditiva de condução ou neurossensorial, podendo agravar-se quando combinada com Radioterapia (RT). O objectivo deste trabalho foi a análise da relação entre a Terapia Combinada (Cisplatina+RT) e a Radioterapia isolada, e os seus efeitos adversos sobre a audição tendo em consideração a inclusão das estruturas do ouvido no campo de tratamento de RT. Métodos: Foram seguidos 10 doentes submetidos a Terapia Combinada (grupo TC) e 11 a Radioterapia isolada (grupo RT). A avaliação audiológica realizou-se antes do inicio (M1), no fim (M2) e um mês após (M3) o termo dos tratamentos e incluiu anamnese audiológica, otoscopia e audiometria tonal. Resultados: No grupo TC, 94,4% dos doentes apresentaram uma relação directamente proporcional entre a dose de radiação na cóclea e a perda auditiva. Esta relação só se verificou em 31% dos doentes do grupo RT, tendo-se verificado diferenças significativas entre grupos (p <0,001). Conclusões: Verificou-se maior incidência da perda auditiva no grupo TC relativamente ao grupo RT. Sugere-se um melhor planeamento do tratamento de RT, reduz - indo a dose à cóclea com o objectivo de minimizar a perda auditiva neurossensorial irreversível, sobretudo quando são utilizadas as duas modalidades de tratamento.

Contribution of hospital effluents to the load of pharmaceuticals in urban wastewaters: Identification of ecologically relevant pharmaceuticals

The impact of effluent wastewaters from four different hospitals: a university (1456 beds), a general (350 beds), a pediatric (110 beds) and a maternity hospital (96 beds), which are conveyed to the same wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), was evaluated in the receiving urban wastewaters. The occurrence of 78 pharmaceuticals belonging to several therapeutic classes was assessed in hospital effluents and WWTP wastewaters (influent and effluent) as well as the contribution of each hospital in WWTP influent in terms of pharmaceutical load. Results indicate that pharmaceuticals are widespread pollutants in both hospital and urban wastewaters. The contribution of hospitals to the input of pharmaceuticals in urban wastewaters widely varies, according to their dimension. The estimated total mass loadings were 306 g d− 1 for the university hospital, 155 g d− 1 for the general one, 14 g d− 1 for the pediatric hospital and 1.5 g d− 1 for the maternity hospital, showing that the biggest hospitals have a greater contribution to the total mass load of pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, analysis of individual contributions of each therapeutic group showed that NSAIDs, analgesics and antibiotics are among the groups with the highest inputs. Removal efficiency can go from over 90% for pharmaceuticals like acetaminophen and ibuprofen to not removal for β-blockers and salbutamol. Total mass load of pharmaceuticals into receiving surface waters was estimated between 5 and 14 g/d/1000 inhabitants. Finally, the environmental risk posed by pharmaceuticals detected in hospital and WWTP effluents was assessed by means of hazard quotients toward different trophic levels (algae, daphnids and fish). Several pharmaceuticals present in the different matrices were identified as potentially hazardous to aquatic organisms, showing that especial attention should be paid to antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, azithromycin and clarithromycin, since their hazard quotients in WWTP effluent revealed that they could pose an ecotoxicological risk to algae.