High precision navigation integrating satellite information - GPS - and inertial systema data

Dissertation submitted for obtain the degree of Doctor, at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Port

Three-dimensional electrospun constructs for wound healing applications

This thesis embraces the opportunity to develop a wound dressing substrate that not only attends the functional requirements of a wound dressing, but also avoids the need of secondary dressings. Novel electrostatically driven self-assembled fibrous based materials made of poly(ε-caprolactone) are manufactured, resulting in asymmetrical materials with enhanced topographies. Such constructs are characterized by a flat bottom side and a top side populated with fibrous-based microsized protrusions, which have a median inter-protusion distance of 528 μm and a median peak density of 73 peaks per cm2. For the first time, it is provided a full explanation of the underlying fabrication phenomena, suggesting new routes to other polymers such as gelatin or chitosan. After the characterization of the proposed substrates, such materials are functionalized by layer-by-layer. Several combinations of polyelectrolytes (chitosan, gelatin, alginate, hyaluronic acid, poly-1, linear polyethyleneimine and dextran sulphate) and layer numbers (n = 1, 3, 5 or 10) are tested regarding the physicochemical properties of the generated multi-layered films, as well as the cellular adhesion on these constructs. It is intended to formulate, test and control, the underlying phenomena that avoids the cellular adhesion and proliferation within the used dressing. As prepared these materials are capable of withstanding (11.0 ± 0.3)×104 kg per m2 after 14 days of hydration. Their unique asymmetry promotes unidirectional liquid uptake (from the top side towards the inner structure of the materials), while being impermeable to potential external liquid-forms of infection at its bottom side. Nevertheless, such constructs also observed the high porosity (89.9%) and high surface area (1.44 m2.g-1) characteristic of traditional electrospun mats. The selected coating reduced cellular adhesion on the constructs throughout the generation of a rubbery film layer, which would also provide a means to tailor water vapor transmission and swelling ratio for different wound environments specifications (e.g. ischemic wounds, I/II/III-degree burns, etc.). As a showcase, functionalized wound dressing substrates were able to achieve 90 ± 0.5 % of wound closure within 48 hours

Innovation and Environmental Policy: Clean vs. Dirty Technical Change

We study a two sector endogenous growth model with environmental quality with two goods and two factors of production, one clean and one dirty. Technological change creates clean or dirty innovations. We compare the laissez-faire equilibrium and the social optimum and study first- and second-best policies. Optimal policy encourages research toward clean technologies. In a second-best world, we claim that a portfolio that includes a tax on the polluting good combined with optimal innovation subsidy policies is less costly than increasing the price of the polluting good alone. Moreover, a discriminating innovation subsidy policy is preferable to a non-discriminating one. JEL codes: H23, O3, O41Pollution, Endogenous Growth, Innovation, Environmental Policy, Laissez-Faire Equilibrium, Optimal Equilibrium, Discriminating vs. Non-Discriminating Subsidies to R&D

Genome-wide estimation of recombination, mutation and positive selection enlightens diversification drivers of Mycobacterium bovis

Genome sequencing has reinvigorated the infectious disease research feld, shedding light on disease epidemiology, pathogenesis, host–pathogen interactions and also evolutionary processes exerted upon pathogens. Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), enclosing M. bovis as one of its animal-adapted members causing tuberculosis (TB) in terrestrial mammals, is a paradigmatic model of bacterial evolution. As other MTBC members, M. bovis is postulated as a strictly clonal, slowly evolving pathogen, with apparently no signs of recombination or horizontal gene transfer. In this work, we applied comparative genomics to a whole genome sequence (WGS) dataset composed by 70 M. bovis from diferent lineages (European and African) to gain insights into the evolutionary forces that shape genetic diversifcation in M. bovis. Three distinct approaches were used to estimate signs of recombination. Globally, a small number of recombinant events was identifed and confrmed by two independent methods with solid support. Still, recombination reveals a weaker efect on M. bovis diversity compared with mutation (overall r/m= 0.037). The diferential r/m average values obtained across the clonal complexes of M. bovis in our dataset are consistent with the general notion that the extent of recombination may vary widely among lineages assigned to the same taxonomical species. Based on this work, recombination in M. bovis cannot be excluded and should thus be a topic of further efort in future comparative genomics studies for which WGS of large datasets from diferent epidemiological scenarios across the world is crucial. A smaller M. bovis dataset (n= 42) from a multi-host TB endemic scenario was then subjected to additional analyses, with the identifcation of more than 1,800 sites wherein at least one strain showed a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). The majority (87.1%) was located in coding regions, with the global ratio of non-synonymous upon synonymous alterations (dN/dS) exceeding 1.5, suggesting that positive selection is an important evolutionary force exerted upon M. bovis. A higher percentage of SNPs was detected in genes enriched into “lipid metabolism”, “cell wall and cell processes” and “intermediary metabolism and respiration” functional categories, revealing their underlying importance in M. bovis biology and evolution. A closer look on genes prone to horizontal gene transfer in the MTBC ancestor and included in the 3R (DNA repair, replication and recombination) system revealed a global average negative value for Taijima’s D neutrality test, suggesting that past selective sweeps and population expansion after a recent bottleneck remain as major evolutionary drivers of the obligatory pathogen M. bovis in its struggle with the host.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Optimization Of the Manufacturing Process for School Portfolios Through the Implementation of The Cellular Layout

One of the most common problems encountered in the manufacturing process is improper layout. About 30% of production time is wasted on transporting materials and products. The causes of this waste are problems in the disposition of stock and machines in production, that is, in the factory layout production of school desks became more efficient with the use of the cell layout. The result found was that with the implementation of the cell layout, there was an increase in the number of wallets produced and a reduction in the waste of materials. It is concluded that the. In this context, the production line based on the cellular layout has been an excellent ally, since the cells of this layout can improve the use of available space, without increasing costs due to major renovations or constructions. To prove such improvements, through the implementation of the cell layout, the PSL method (Systematic Layout Planning) was used, which follows steps such as data collection, analysis of necessary and available space, and factory limitations. With these stages of knowledge and analysis of the factory, it becomes possible to discard layouts that do not fit the characteristics of the company, whether related to financial resources, available space, and factory culture. Using the Chi-Square test for statistical analysis, it was possible to verify that the cell layout is an efficient optimization tool in the school desks production process, as it brought numerous benefits to the factory under studies, such as increased productivity, greater organization, and flexibility in the processes

Modulating intermolecular interactions and rheological properties in silk fibroin using ultrasound frequencies

info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

Atitudes em relação à justiça restaurativa: Preditores psicossociológicos

A literatura mostra-nos que existem duas orientações para a justiça que guiam as respostas dos indivíduos relativamente a transgressões (Okimoto et al., 2012; Wenzel et al., 2008): uma orientação restaurativa e uma orientação retributiva. A presente dissertação teve como objetivo identificar os preditores psicossociológicos das atitudes em relação à justiça restaurativa, nomeadamente os valores (universalismo, poder, segurança e autodireção), o cinismo social, a empatia (tomada de perspetiva, preocupação empática e desconforto pessoal) e a crença no mundo justo (CMJ), por comparação com as atitudes em relação à justiça retributiva, no contexto português, controlando o estatuto social subjetivo, o género e a idade dos participantes. Para tal, foi realizado um estudo correlacional, através da aplicação de um questionário, ao qual responderam 296 participantes de nacionalidade portuguesa, de ambos os sexos, com idades compreendidas entre os 19 e os 83 anos. Para este efeito testaram-se as seguintes hipóteses: relativamente às atitudes em relação à justiça restaurativa, era esperado que atitudes mais favoráveis estivessem negativamente correlacionadas com os valores “poder” (H1a) e “segurança” (H1b), positivamente com o universalismo (H1c), a empatia cognitiva (tomada de perspetiva) (H2a) e afetiva, na dimensão “preocupação empática” (H2b), e outra vez negativamente com a dimensão “desconforto pessoal (H2c). Por contraste, era esperado que atitudes mais favoráveis à justiça retributiva estivessem positivamente correlacionadas com o “poder” (H3a) e a “segurança” (H3b), e negativamente com o universalismo (H3c), e empatia cognitiva (tomada de perspetiva) (H4a) e afetiva, na dimensão “preocupação empática” (H4b). Esperava-se também que a justiça retributiva estivesse positivamente correlacionada com a empata afetiva, na dimensão afetiva “desconforto pessoal” (H4c), e com a crença no mundo justo (H5). Adicionalmente, previa-se que a justiça retributiva estivesse positivamente correlacionada com a crença no mundo justo (H5) e que as atitudes em relação a ambos os tipos de justiça estivessem positiva, mas fracamente correlacionadas (H6). Testámos ainda a relação entre autodireção e os dois tipos de justiça numa amostra portuguesa, bem como a relação da CMJ com a justiça restaurativa, e explorámos a relação das duas justiças com o cinismo social. Os resultados mostram que a justiça restaurativa está negativamente correlacionada com a segurança (H1b), e positivamente com a tomada de perspetiva (H2a), a preocupação empática (H2b) e a CMJ. Contudo, verificou-se que a justiça retributiva está também negativamente correlacionada com a segurança, estando ainda positivamente correlacionada com o desconforto pessoal (H4c), com a CMJ (H5), e com a idade. No entanto, apenas a segurança prediz atitudes mais negativas relativamente às duas justiças, a CMJ prediz exclusivamente as atitudes restaurativas, e a idade as atitudes retributivas. Também se verificou uma associação positiva fraca entre as duas justiças (H6), o que reforça a tese de que consistem em orientações de justiça distintas, mas não mutuamente exclusivas, podendo ser complementares (Okimoto et al., 2012).The academic literature showcases two justice orientations that shape individual’s reactions towards transgressions (Okimoto et al., 2012; Wenzel et al., 2008): a restorative and a retributive orientation. The present dissertation aims to identify the psychosocial predictors of attitudes towards restorative justice in Portugal, in particular values (universalism, power, security and self-direction), social cynicism, empathy (perspective taking, empathic concern and personal distress) and belief in a just world (BJW), in comparison to attitudes towards retributive justice, while controlling for subjective social status (SSS), sex and age of respondents. We conducted a correlational study by applying a survey to 296 respondents with Portuguese nationality, both female and male, with an age range from 19 to 83. To this end, we tested the following hypothesis: regarding attitudes towards restorative justice, we proposed that more positive attitudes would be negatively related to values of power (H1a) and security (H1b), positively related to universalism (H1c), cognitive (perspective taking) (H2a) and affective empathy in its “empathic concern” dimension (H2b), but negatively related to its “personal distress” dimension (H2c). In contrast, we expected favorable attitudes towards retributive justice to be positively related to power (H3a) and security (H3b), and negatively to universalism (H3c), cognitive (perspective taking) (H4a) and affective empathy, in its “empathic concern” dimension (H4b). Contrarily, we expected retributive justice to be positively related to affective empathy, in its “personal distress” (H4c), and to belief in a just world (H5). Additionally, we hypothesized that attitudes towards both justices would be positively, although weakly, related to each other (H6). We also tested the association between self-direction and both justice types in a Portuguese sample, as well as the association between BJW and restorative justice, and explored the association between both justice attitudes and social cynicism. Results show that restorative justice is negatively related to security (H1b), and positively related to perspective taking (H2a), empathic concern (H2b), and BJW. However, we found that retributive justice is negatively related to security, but positively related to personal distress (H4c), BJW (H5), and age. Nonetheless, only security predicts more negative attitudes towards both justices, BJW exclusively predicts restorative attitudes, and age exclusively predicts retributive justice. Results also show a positive and weak association between both justices (H6), which strengthens the theory that they represent two different, but not mutually exclusive, justice orientations, as they can complement each other (Okimoto et al., 2012)

O instituto da extradição no direito brasileiro: Análise epistemológica dos aspectos gerais do caso Cesare Battisti

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (Graduação)O artigo pretende analisar a extradição que tem como papel fundamental ser dispositivo de cooperação internacional no sentido de frustrar o criminoso e inibir a sensação de impunidade para aqueles que tentam refúgio no exterior após cometer um crime.Porém, o cidadão que opta por renunciar a sua nacionalidade, e voluntariamente, se torna cidadão em outro Estado adquirindo direitos e deveres em outro país, também poderá ser alcançado por tal instituto jurídico. É diante da expansão das atividades diversas entre os países, originárias da globalização, que o crime também ultrapassou fronteiras, assim, compete ao Estado munir-se adequadamente com meios específicos para barrar a ação e expansão de grupos criminosos

A Memetic Algorithm for Logic Circuit Design

Memetic Algorithms (MAs) have shown to be very effective in solving many hard combinatorial optimization problems. In this perspective, this paper presents a MA for combinational logic circuits synthesis. The proposed MA combines a Genetic Algorithm (GA) for digital circuit design with the gate type local search (GTLS). The combination of a global and a local search is a strategy used by many successful hybrid optimization approaches. The main idea is to apply a local refinement to an Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) in order to improve the fitness of the individuals in the population. The obtained results indicate that the MA reduces the number of generations required to reach the solutions and its standard deviation while improves the final fitness function.N/