Nutrition education: challenges from a growing digital and social media ecosystem

The present digital revolution that we are living is making dramatic changes not only in entertainment but especially in education. A few decades ago, entertainment/education was consumed passively, and was created by companies or experts that decided what people should see and learn. Nowadays, everyone can be both a consumer and a creator, and the created contents can virtually reach any people in any place. Another important issue regarding all of this changes is the availability and accessibility of digital media interfaces and devices, especially in children and teenagers. One of the contents that is more likely to be searched in digital media are nutrition-related issues. Brands and marketers have realized it and there is a strong investment in this field. Unfortunately, due to that there is a growing number of digital platforms that offer information about food and nutrition without any scientific background. Even worse, in a significant percentage of cases, the information is created and transmitted without the intervention of nutritionists.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of hydropeaking and refuge configurations on the behaviour of cyprinids in experimental flume conditions

Doutoramento em Restauro e Gestão Fluviais (FLUVIO) - Instituto Superior de Agronomia / Faculdade de Arquitetura / Instituto Superior TécnicoFlow regime regulates the ecological integrity of river ecosystems, shaping the structure and function of fish communities. The discharge fluctuations in hydropower plants in response to peak electricity demand (i.e. hydropeaking) result in rapid flow changes in tailwaters. The continued hydropower operations produced morphological, hydraulic and water quality alterations, affecting downstream fish. Fish responses to hydropeaking range from organism to life-cycle event changes. It is challenging to establish a cause-effect relationship between flow variability and a fish response, and to propose adequate mitigation measures. In the first part of this research, a literature review was conducted to find evidence for that relationship. The review showed that flow variability can represent a stressor for fish. However, it remained unclear if the responses were maladaptive. In the second part, the effects of hydropeaking and refuges were assessed for L. bocagei in an indoor flume. A multidisciplinary approach was adopted, where fish responses were combined with a hydraulic characterization. Peak events were tested by manipulating magnitude, peak frequency and duration. The refuges were lateral (meandering and one-sided deflectors) and instream (triangular pyramids and v-shaped) structures, tested along three experimental campaigns. Glucose and lactate (secondary responses), and movement behaviour (whole-animal responses) were assessed. The flow field and fluid-body interactions were characterized by using acoustic Doppler velocimetry and an artificial lateral line probe respectively. The movement patterns of L. bocagei were diverse and not always proportional to the severity of the flow event. Lateral deflectors and v-shaped structures provided low velocity areas. However, the created flow complexity represented an additional constraint for fish, reducing their ability to find them. Flow thresholds that represented the resting state of L. bocagei were identified, and specific movement patterns were related with hydrodynamic changes. Practical recommendations for operational schemes and for the implementation of mitigation measures to hydropeaking were proposedN/

Waynergy: the way for energy harvesting: business model design

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

Comparing AHP and ELECTRE I for prioritizing software requirements

Requirement prioritization is a process that allows selection of the “key” candidate requirements, the ones that are the most important for the construction of quality and cost-controlled software. Requirement prioritization brings certain issues and challenges related with the different stakeholders involved in the project, as well as with the prioritization techniques used, which differ in procedures, criteria and metrics. This manuscript compares two multi-criteria decision methods (MCDM), AHP and ELECTRE I, seeking to justify which one is the most feasible in the requirement prioritization process of a real-world case study. To accomplish this aim, several criteria were used to compare the applicability and performance of both MCDMs. In order to reflect reality as close as possible, several stakeholders, including software professionals directly related to the case study, were involved. The results confirm the intuition that ELECTRE I is more easily applicable than AHP. ELECTRE I is subject to fewer mistakes in comparisons of the requirements than the AHP method, as these are carried out differently. In fact, due to its inherent complexity, AHP becomes even impractical in software projects with a large number of requirements

Gestão do fluxo de peças especiais na indústria cerâmica

Nos dias que correm, as empresas vivem numa busca permanente de se manterem competitivas, procurando uma melhoria contínua dos seus processos e ajustando as suas estratégias às constantes alterações do mercado. Este relatório apresenta o trabalho conduzido na secção de planeamento e aprovisionamento do departamento de supply chain, numa unidade industrial de cerâmica de construção, pertencente a uma multinacional italiana. Com a elaboração deste projeto, pretendeu-se reduzir as ineficiências presentes na gestão do fluxo de peças trabalhadas externamente, denominadas peças especiais na Love Tiles, centrando-se o objetivo na sugestão de melhorias viáveis a implementar na empresa em todo o processo em que estas peças estão envolvidas. Depois de uma familiarização com o processo, procurou-se fazer uma triagem de quais os materiais relevantes para o estudo e segmentálos segundo a sua importância em termos económicos, de forma a dar uma resposta mais condizente com o comportamento dos grupos de referências. Como contributos deste projeto, espera-se que a introdução de modelos matemáticos na definição de stocks de segurança e de ponto de encomenda para os grupos de materiais que representam maior retorno resultem numa resposta mais eficiente às encomendas destas referências, diminuindo o stock global, através duma estratégia de rutura para as restantes.Nowadays, companies live in a permanent search to remain competitive, looking for a continuous improvement of their processes and adjusting their strategies to the constant changes of the market. This report presents the work carried out in the planning and supply section of the supply chain department, in an industrial building ceramics unit, belonging to an Italian multinational. With the elaboration of this project, the intention was to reduce the inefficiencies present in the flow management of externally worked pieces, called special pieces at Love Tiles, focusing on the suggestion of viable improvements to be implemented in the company for the whole process involving these pieces. After a familiarization with the process, an attempt was made to screen which materials are relevant for the study and to segment them according to their importance in economic terms, in order to provide a more consistent response with the behaviour of the reference groups. As contributions of this project, it is expected that the introduction of mathematical models in the definition of safety stocks and order point for the groups of materials that represent the highest return will result on a more efficient response to the orders of these references, reducing the overall stock, through a rupture strategy for the others.Mestrado em Engenharia e Gestão Industria

A consociação de espécies como ferramenta para a otimização do uso do ferro

A clorose férrica é um dos problemas agronómicos mais relevantes na região do Mediterrâneo, com elevadas prejuízos para as culturas. Face a esta carência, as plantas dividem-se em duas estratégias para solucionar este problema: Estratégia I ou estratégia de redução (dicotiledóneas) e estratégia II ou estratégia complexante (gramíneas). Nesta última, os fitosideróforos são excretados pelas raízes e dão origem a complexos estáveis de Fe, facilitando a sua absorção. Desenvolveu-se então, um ensaio com uma consociação entre Poa pratensis L. (nome comum: cabelo-de-cão-de-colmo-liso) (estratégia I) e Brassica oleraceae var. italica Plenck (nome comum: couve-brócolos) (estratégia II), de forma a testar a hipótese da hortícola conseguir beneficiar da formação destes complexos gerados pela gramínea. Este contemplou 6 modalidades, com 3 concentrações diferentes de Fe na solução nutritiva (Fe0, Fe1 e Fe5), cada concentração tinha: uma repetição em consociação (P. pratensis + B. oleraceae) e outra em monocultura (B. oleraceae), ambas em sistema hidropónico. Foram registados valores de SPAD (posteriormente convertidos em clorofila total), de atividade enzimática do quelato de Fe(III)-redutase (QFR) e de parâmetros de fluorescência e de biomassa. Os dados obtidos sugerem que os complexos de Fe formados ficaram disponíveis à absorção da hortícola, melhorando assim a absorção de Fe pela raiz. De forma a complementar este primeiro ensaio, realizou-se um segundo ensaio onde se testou a aplicação de dois extratos: um da parte aérea da P. pratensis e outro da parte radicular também da P. pratensis, numa hortícola em hidroponia com diferentes concentrações de Fe. Ao longo do ensaio foram realizadas 4 pulverizações à parte aérea num total de 20 ml de extrato por planta, logo após os primeiros sintomas de clorose férrica. Novamente, foram registados os valores de SPAD e de biomassa final. Os dados obtidos revelam um efeito ligeiramente positivo, mas transitório, consoante a modalidade. Tudo isto indica que mediante o contexto agronómico, a utilização de consociação com gramíneas pode substituir em parte a quantidade de quelatos aplicados nas culturas.Iron chlorosis is one of the most relevant agronomic problems in the Mediterranean region, with serious damage to crops. To cope with this problem, the plants are divided into two strategies to solve this problem: Strategy I or reduction strategy (dicots) and strategy II or complexing strategy (grasses). On this second strategy, the phytosiderophores are excreted by the roots and produce stable iron complexes, facilitating its absorption. In order to test the hypothesis of horticultural plants benefiting from this complexes, an intercropping essay was developed using Poa pratensis L. also known as Kentucky bluegrass (strategy I) and Brassica oleraceae var. italica Plenck also known as broccoli (strategy II). This included 6 treatments, with 3 different concentrations of iron in the nutrient solution (Fe0, Fe1 and Fe5). For each concentration plants were grown in intercropping system (P. pratensis + B. oleraceae) or in monoculture (B. oleraceae), both in hydroponic system. Values for SPAD (later converted to total chlorophyll), enzymatic activity of iron chelate reductase, fluorescence and biomass parameters were recorded. The data obtained revealed that the formed iron complexes were available to the dicot uptake, thus improving root iron uptake. In order to complement this first essay, a second experiment was established to test the application of two extracts: one from the aerial part of P. pratensis and the other from the root part also from P. pratensis, on B. oleraceae‘s plants grown in hydroponics with different Fe concentrations. On this assay, 4 foliar sprays were done, totaling 20 ml of extract per plant, after the first symptoms of iron chlorosis. Again, SPAD and final biomass values were recorded. The data obtained revealed a positive but transitory effect, depending on the treatment. It is possible to conclude that, depending on the agronomic context, the use of intercropping with grasses can partly replace the amount of chelates used on crops

Biosynthesis of plant polyphenol compounds with therapeutic and industrial relevance

Polyphenols are naturally produced in plants and have several biological and potential therapeutic activities such as anti inflammatory, antioxidant and anticancer They have an estimated market size of USD 2 26 billion by 2027 However, polyphenols are extracted from plants where they accumulate in low amounts over long growth periods In addition, their purification is difficult and expensive since it requires the separation of other compounds with similar chemical structures in an environmentally unfriendly process Heterologous microbial production has several benefits as it is not limited by plant availability or environmental factors and it is a renewable, environmentally friendly and sustainable approach Herein, we report the construction of artificial pathways for the production of curcuminoids and furanocoumarins using Escherichia coli as chassis These compounds can be produced from tyrosine or hydroxycinnamic acids as precursors and have in common the phenylpropanoids pathway Pure curcumin production from ferulic acid achieved 563 mg/L Curcuminoids were also produced from tyrosine 42 mg/L) using a modular pathway combining synthetic biologic and co culture engineering To our knowledge, these are the highest titers of curcuminoids obtained to date CRISPR Cas 9 was used to disrupt the lacZ gene in order to follow co culture population compositionPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2020 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. In addition, the authors acknowledge the Biomass and Bioenergy Research Infrastructure (BBRI) – LISBOA-010145- FEDER-022059, supported by Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (PORTUGAL2020), the Lisbon Portugal Regional Operational Program (Lisboa2020), and Norte2020 under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the ERDF. JR is recipient of a fellowship supported by a doctoral advanced training (SFRH/BD/138325/2018) funded by FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio