Trace elements in ambient air at Porto metropolitan area: checking for compliance with new European Union (EU) air quality standards

Because of the scientific evidence showing that arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and nickel (Ni) are human genotoxic carcinogens, the European Union (EU) recently set target values for metal concentration in ambient air (As: 6 ng/m3, Cd: 5 ng/m3, Ni: 20 ng/m3). The aim of our study was to determine the concentration levels of these trace elements in Porto Metropolitan Area (PMA) in order to assess whether compliance was occurring with these new EU air quality standards. Fine (PM2.5) and inhalable (PM10) air particles were collected from October 2011 to July 2012 at two different (urban and suburban) locations in PMA. Samples were analyzed for trace elements content by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The study focused on determination of differences in trace elements concentration between the two sites, and between PM2.5 and PM10, in order to gather information regarding emission sources. Except for chromium (Cr), the concentration of all trace elements was higher at the urban site. However, results for As, Cd, Ni, and lead (Pb) were well below the EU limit/target values (As: 1.49 ± 0.71 ng/m3; Cd: 1.67 ± 0.92 ng/m3; Ni: 3.43 ± 3.23 ng/m3; Pb: 17.1 ± 10.1 ng/m3) in the worst-case scenario. Arsenic, Cd, Ni, Pb, antimony (Sb), selenium (Se), vanadium (V), and zinc (Zn) were predominantly associated to PM2.5, indicating that anthropogenic sources such as industry and road traffic are the main source of these elements. High enrichment factors (EF > 100) were obtained for As, Cd, Pb, Sb, Se, and Zn, further confirming their anthropogenic origin

A preponderância do Corporate Governance e da Social Responsibility no desempenho das seguradoras a operar em Portugal

presente dissertação encontra-se subordinada ao tema “A Preponderância do Corporate Governance e da Social Responsibility no Desempenho das Seguradoras a Operar em Portugal” e tem como principal finalidade verificar se existe alguma correlação entre os mecanismos internos da Corporate Governance e da Social Responsibility no desempenho financeiro das seguradoras a exercer em Portugal. Para alcançar os objetivos da investigação, utilizou-se uma metodologia quantitativa, utilizando-se uma amostra composta pelas 25 maiores seguradoras com sucursal em Portugal nos ramos vida e não – vida, elegidas pelo critério de quota de mercado, para um período temporal de 9 anos, compreendido entre 2014 e 2022. A metodologia empregue consistiu na estimação e análise do modelo dos Mínimos Quadrados Ordinários (OLS) para se analisar a respetiva relação. Utilizaram-se como variáveis de desempenho o Retorno sobre o Ativo (ROA), o Retorno sobre o Capital Próprio (ROE), o Rácio Combinado (RC) e o Rácio de Produtividade (RP). A Dimensão da Empresa (Size) e a Antiguidade da Empresa (Age) foram utilizadas como variáveis de controlo. No que concerne às variáveis independentes utilizaram-se a Dimensão do Conselho de Administração (BoardSize), a Dualidade CEO/Chairman (Dual), a Remuneração e os Benefícios do CEO (RemCEO), a Comissão de Auditoria (ComAud) e os Relatórios Integrados de Sustentabilidade (RelSust). Os modelos apresentados evidenciam que as empresas que dispõem de um relatório integrado de sustentabilidade tendem a obter um melhor ROA, um menor RC e um menor RP. Também se verifica que quanto maior a Dimensão da Empresa menor tende a ser o valor do ROA e maior tende a ser o RP. No que concerne ao RC, quanto maior é a Dimensão do Conselho de Administração e a Remuneração e Benefícios do CEO maior tende a ser o seu valor. Já a existência da Dualidade de funções CEO/Chairman e Empresas com uma maior existência temporal tendem a ter um RP menor.The present master's dissertation is focused on the topic "The Prevalence of Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility in the Performance of Insurance Companies Operating in Portugal" and its main objective is to ascertain if there is any correlation between certain internal mechanisms of Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility and the financial performance of insurance companies operating in Portugal. To achieve the research objectives, a quantitative strategy was chosen, utilizing a sample composed of the 25 largest insurance companies with branches in Portugal in the life and non-life insurance sectors, selected based on market share criteria, for a time period spanning 9 years, from 2014 to 2022. The employed methodology involved estimating and analyzing the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model to investigate the respective relationship. As performance variables, Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), Combined Ratio (CR), and Productivity Ratio (PR) were utilized. Control variables included Company Size (Size) and Company Age (Age). Regarding the independent variables, Board Size (BoardSize), CEO/Chairman Duality (Dual), CEO Compensation and Benefits (RemCEO), Autonomous Audit Committee (ComAud), and Integrated Sustainability Reports (RelSust) were used. The presented models of this study show that companies with integrated sustainability reports tend to achieve better ROA, lower CR, and lower PR. Furthermore, as Company increases, ROA tends to decrease, while PR tends to increase. As for CR, it tends to be higher with a larger board of directors and higher CEO compensation and benefits. On the other hand, the existence of CEO/Chairman dual roles and older companies tend to have a lower PR

Radar through wall system

Esta dissertação descreve o trabalho desenvolvido para implementar um sistema de radar não intrusivo que tem como principal objetivo detetar a presença de indivíduos em movimento no interior de um compartimento. A primeira versão do radar é do tipo mono-estático e usa como sinal uma sinusóide transmitida de forma contínua. O radar deteta as variações de amplitude e fase da sinusóide recebida causadas pelos movimentos de uma pessoa do outro lado da parede. Com base neste radar foi desenvolvido um algoritmo para deteção de várias dinâmicas do movimento humano. De modo a alargar a capacidade de deteção do movimento e a contornar a atenuação dupla causada pela parede no radar mono-estático, foi desenvolvido um radar distribuído constituído por vários módulos independentes que operam cooperativamente. Esta arquitetura apresentou novos desafios, o que levou ao uso de chirps como sinal de teste. Ambas as versões do radar foram implementadas numa plataforma de SDR e testadas com sinais reais.This thesis describes the work developed to implement a non-intrusive radar system with main objective of detecting the presence of moving individuals inside a compartment. The first version of the radar is of the monostatic type that uses a sinusoid transmitted continuously. The radar detects the amplitude and phase variations of the received sinusoid caused by the movements of a person on the other side of the wall. Based on this radar, an algorithm was developed to detect several dynamics of human movement. In order to extend the motion detection capability and to circumvent the double attenuation caused by the wall in the mono-static radar, a distributed radar has been developed, consisting of several independent modules that operate cooperatively. This architecture presented new challenges, which led to the use of chirps as a test signal. Both versions of the radar were implemented on an SDR platform and tested with real signals.Por fim realço o apoio financeiro por parte do Instituto de Telecomunicações de Aveiro, que suportou este projeto na sua integridade, sendo este trabalho desenvolvido no âmbito do Projeto RETIOT, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016432.Mestrado em Engenharia Eletrónica e Telecomunicaçõe

Thermal and acoustic performance of interlocking compressed earth blocks masonry

The earth construction is an ancient building technique that, with the emergence of new materials and technologies, has received less attention during the last decades. Nevertheless, the new concerns in terms of environmental protection and sustainable construction have recently led to its revalorization. The masonry construction with interlocking compressed earth blocks (ICEB) is one of the earth construction techniques that features several advantages and has received the most developments in the last years. This type of masonry is currently being used worldwide, especially in developing countries, although the suspicions about its performance remain very wide. Another problem is the lack of standards and documents that can support designers in projects development. This research aims to contribute in this direction, creating bases to help designers in their work and contribute to the knowledge about this type of construction. Furthermore, there has been an increase in the standard requirements related to the comfort inside the building, namely at the thermal and acoustic level. So, the knowledge of the thermal and acoustic performance of the ICEB masonry is essential to define and optimize the constructive solutions at the design stage. Experimental studies were carried out in order to characterize these properties. The results are presented and discussed. It is expected that the results obtained serve as design support for this type of construction.FEDER funds through the Competitivity Factors Operational Programme - COMPETEFCT – Foundation for Science and Technology- project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-00763

Avaliar e melhorar a qualidade dos dados com impacto no negócio num processo de migração de dados entre ERPs

Mestrado em Gestão de Sistemas de InformaçãoApesar de toda a literatura publicada sobre a melhoria da qualidade de dados, problemas de qualidade de dados continuam a afetar a operacionalidade das empresas e dos seus sistemas de decisão. Reconhecendo este facto, a RetailPC, uma empresa de comércio a retalho de equipamento informático, aceitou a realização da presente investigação, a qual teve como objetivo a avaliação e melhoria da qualidade de dados da sua entidade Cliente, durante um processo de migração de dados entre dois ERPs (Primavera Professional para SAP Business One). Para o efeito, foi utilizada a metodologia Action Research, uma vez que permite ao investigador assumir um papel intervencionista na resolução do problema da qualidade de dados. No caso concreto deste trabalho, foi avaliada e melhorada a qualidade de dados durante a migração entre ERPs e alterados processos de recolha dos mesmos, tendo sido disponibilizados meios de diagnóstico para futuros ciclos de Action Research. No final, foi possível constatar que a qualidade de dados foi melhorada significativamente. Foi possível corrigir todos os erros detetados nos atributos ShipType (Modo de expedição), PymCode (Formas de pagamento), Currency (Moeda) e LangCode (Língua da documentação enviada para o cliente); 98,53% dos erros detetados em sujeitos passivos coletivos com respeito ao atributo LicTradNum (NIF); 56,67% das moradas com erros do atributo ZipCode (Código Postal) e 99,65% dos tuplos que continham valores no atributo IntrntSite, uma vez estava a ser utilizado para um fim diferente do previsto pelo ERP, tendo esses valores sido migrados para o atributo E_Mail para posterior tratamento.Despite all the published literature on data quality enhancement, data quality problems continue to affect the company's operation and their decision systems. In recognition of that, RetailPC, an IT equipment retail trading company, accepted to be part of the present research, which aimed the assess and improve data quality of its Customer entity during a data migration process between ERPs (Primavera Professional to SAP Business One). For this purpose, it was used the Action Research methodology, as it allows the researcher to assume an interventional role in the resolution of the data quality problem. In the specific case of this research, has been assessed and enhanced data quality during data migration and changed data collection processes, were made available diagnostic methods for future cycles of Action Research. At the end it was perceived that the quality of data is improved significantly. It was possible to correct all the errors detected in attributes ShipType (Delivery mode), PymCode (Payment Methods), Currency (Currency) and LangCode (Language of documents sent to customer); correct 98.53% of detected errors in collective taxpayers with respect to LicTradNum attribute (Tax ID); 56.67% of addresses with errors in ZipCode attribute (Postal Code) and 99.65% of tuples that contain values in IntrntSite attribute, as was being used for a different purpose from that defined by the ERP, and these values were migrated to E_Mail attribute for further processing. They were also detected and eliminated 323 tuples of entities that were duplicated

A novel bioactive glass-ceramic for treating dentin hypersensitivity

Dentin hypersensitivity (DH) is a painful response to stimulus applied to the open dentinal tubules of a vital tooth. It's a common oral condition, however, without an ideal treatment available yet. This work evaluated in vitro the effect of micron-sized particles from a novel bioactive glass-ceramic (Biosilicate) in occluding open dentinal tubules. A dentin disc model was employed to observe comparatively, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dentinal tubule occlusion by different products and deposition of hydroxyl carbonate apatite (HCA) on dentin surface by Biosilicate, after a single application: G1 - Dentifrice with potassium nitrate and fluoride; G2 - Two-step calcium phosphate precipitation treatment; G3 - Water-free gel containing Biosilicate particles (1%); G4 - Biosilicate particles mixed with distilled water in a 1:10 ratio; all of them after 1, 12 and 24 hours of immersion in artificial saliva. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was performed to detect HCA formation on dentin discs filled with Biosilicate after 2 minutes, 30 minutes and 12 hours of immersion in artificial saliva. SEM showed a layer of HCA formed on dentin surface after 24 hours by G4. G1, G2 and G3 promoted not total occlusion of open dentinal tubules after 24 hours. FTIR showed HCA precipitation on the dentin surface induced by Biosilicate after 30 minutes. The micron-sized particles from the bioactive glass-ceramic thus were able to induce HCA deposition in open dentinal tubules in vitro. This finding suggests that Biosilicate may provide a new option for treating DH.FAPESPCNP