Things you need to know if you are writing a scientific paper, thesis or report in Engineering or Science

This paper focuses on the common mistakes made by students at the early stages of research when writing scientific papers, thesis and reports. It points out mistakes to be avoided and the basic rules that can be inferred by reading a few scientific documents but are not usually clearly written and that we, as professors, end up teaching over and over again. The outcome of this paper will be, hopefully, that we will not need to correct the same common mistakes again and you, as a student, will have a faster lane to publishing. Starting with the abstract: it is composed of a single paragraph, does not contain acronyms or references and describes in short the work, main highlights and points out the results or main conclusions obtained from the work being presented. The abstract is an independent part of the paper and commonly has a character or word limit that you need to respect. It can be read as a “stand-alone” and the paper starts in the introduction, meaning that the introduction is not the sequence of the abstract and it can have some text in common if needed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bone allografts in the osteosynthesis of traumatic fractures

Nos últimos anos, assistimos a importantes avanços científicos na área da segurança microbiológica, na imunologia e no conhecimento do comportamento biológico dos aloenxertos do aparelho locomotor, assim como a alterações da legislação que regulamenta as transplantações de orgãos e tecidos de origem humana, o que conduziu a alterações importantes na organização dos Bancos de Tecidos em todo o mundo. Os aloenxertos ósseos podem estar indicados na osteossíntese de fracturas ósseas traumáticas e no tratamento das complicações desse tipo de lesões, área que não tem sido suficientemente divulgada na literatura internacional. No período compreendido entre 1982 e 2007, o BancoTecidos dos HUC disponibilizou 5231 aloenxertos do aparelho locomotor para aplicação clínica. De entre estes e no período compreendido entre os anos 1994 e 2006, foram usados 1078 aloenxertos ósseos na osteossíntese de fracturas ósseas traumáticas e no tratamento de complicações de fracturas, na condição de medida terapêutica complementar: 500 esponjosos granulados, 98 maciços e 480 desmineralizados. O número das fracturas ósseas traumáticas e dos casos com complicações de fracturas foi de 420, distribuídos da seguinte forma: 290 localizados no fémur, 84 na tíbia, 32 no úmero e 14 no rádio. As lesões da extremidade distal do fémur representaram a causa mais frequente da aplicação dos aloenxertos. Nesta série, não foram confirmados casos de infecção associada ao aloenxerto, nem qualquer caso de transmissão de doenças virais aos receptores. A consolidação das fracturas foi conseguida entre os 3 e os 6 meses. Uma reabsorção parcial do enxerto foi verificada em 21 casos (5%), em correlação directa com as deficientes condições vasculares do leito receptor e com a técnica cirúrgica. A aplicação de aloenxerto ósseo no tratamento de fracturas ósseas e das suas complicações é um procedimento seguro e com resultados satisfatórios

Innovative low noise surfaces : comparison of damping and absorption

While sound absorption is an acoustic related property reasonably well known and currently used to characterize low noise surfaces, damping is a property commonly used in other domains to define the energy dissipation of a material but rarely used to characterize this important mechanism in road pavements. This paper compares noise related properties such as damping and absorption of five road pavement surfaces. Two of which are innovative and therefore expected to be low noise since they have high voids content, incorporate fine grading aggregates and expanded clay. Other two incorporate rubber and waste high-density polyethylene giving them an elastic and stiff behaviour respectively. The fifth is a conventional material, asphalt concrete, used for control. Sound absorption tests and mechanical impedance tests were carried out in 30x30 cm slabs at 20ºC. To measure absorption, an impedance tube with an open end was put on the surfaces. To determine damping, the response of a hammer impact measured by an accelerometer on suspended slabs was analysed. Results show that the innovative surfaces have better acoustic related properties while the surface with high-density polyethylene provided the worst results. Furthermore, a strong correlation of damping and air voids was found.(undefined

Analysing people's movement in the built environment via space syntax, objective tracking and gaze data

In this paper we use analysis tools from Space Syntax and objective observation of the human behaviour, to understand the impact of landmarks in the walking patterns of users of spaces. Our case study was a large exterior public open space (University Campus), in which participants could walk freely and simultaneously be tracked by several sensors. We carried Space Syntax analysis for this space, and then collected Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking information and used a mobile eye-tracking device to acquire eye gaze information. The collected data allowed us to map and analyse each subject behaviour in the public space. A more specific analysis was done to four selected landmarks that, according to the Space Syntax analysis, were the ones with higher integration values. Results indicate that landmarks with such higher integration values show also a larger count of fixations and saccades of gaze interaction.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

obstacles to the implementation of Portugal's Dementia Strategy

Financial support. The present publication was funded by Fundação Ciência e Tecnologia, IP national support through CHRC (UIDP/04923/2020).BACKGROUND: Portugal has a Dementia Strategy that endorses care coordination in the community, but the strategy is not implemented despite there being a network of multidisciplinary primary care clinics that could support it. Recent research into barriers to dementia management in primary care has focused essentially on general practitioners' (GPs) factors and perspectives. A comprehensive triangulated view on the barriers to dementia management emphasising teamwork is missing. AIM: To explore the barriers to the implementation of the Portuguese Dementia Strategy by primary care teams, from the perspectives of service users and professionals. METHODS: Purposive sampling was used to recruit 10 GPs, 8 practice nurses, 4 social workers, 8 people with dementia and 10 family carers from 6 practices in different social contexts within the Lisbon metropolitan area. The analytical framework combined codes derived from the transcripts with codes from the available literature. Themes focused on the access to professionals/community services, care coordination within healthcare teams, and between health and community services. FINDINGS: Several system barriers were identified (undefined roles/coordination within teams, time constraints, insufficient signposting to community services) along with individual barriers (limited competence in dementia, unrecognised autonomy, limited views on social health and quality of life (QoL)), hindering users access to dementia services. CONCLUSION: Enhanced competence in dementia, and nurse-led systematic care of people with dementia and their carers, are necessary. They can be effective in improving the QoL in dementia, but only if associated with better community support.publishersversionpublishe

Both cetaceans in the Brazilian Amazon show sustained, profound population declines over two decades

<div><p>Obligate river dolphins occur only in the rivers of Asia and South America, where they are increasingly subject to damaging pressures such as habitat degradation, food competition and entanglement in fishing gear as human populations expand. The Amazon basin hosts two, very different, dolphins—the boto or Amazon river dolphin (<i>Inia geoffrensis</i>) and the smaller tucuxi (<i>Sotalia fluviatilis</i>). Both species have wide geographical ranges and were once considered to be relatively abundant. Their IUCN Red List conservation status of Data Deficient (DD), due to limited information on threats, ecology, population numbers and trends, did not initially cause alarm. However, the development of dolphin hunting to provide fish bait at around the beginning of this millennium broadly coincided with the onset of a widespread perception that numbers of both species were in decline. Consequently, the need for population trend data to inform conservation advice and measures became urgent. This paper presents a 22-year time series of standardised surveys for both dolphins within the Mamirauá Reserve, Amazonas State, Brazil. Analysis of these data show that both species are in steep decline, with their populations halving every 10 years (botos) and 9 years (tucuxis) at current rates. These results are consistent with published, independent information on survival rates of botos in this area, which demonstrated a substantial drop in annual survival, commencing at around the year 2000. Mamirauá is a protected area, and is subject to fewer environmental pressures than elsewhere in the region, so there is no reason to suspect that the decline in dolphins within the Reserve is more pronounced than outside it. If South America's freshwater cetaceans are to avoid following their Asian counterparts on the path to a perilous conservation status, effective conservation measures are required immediately. Enforcement of existing fishery laws would greatly assist in achieving this.</p></div

A interação entre a Embrapa, os povos indígenas e a Fundação Nacional do Índio - Funai.

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Evaluation of code formulations for NSM CFRP bond strength of RC elements

This paper presents an analytical analysis which intends to verify the accuracy of existing code formulations for predicting the pullout strength of NSM CFRP systems applied to concrete. A database with a limited set of parameters was gathered and two code formulations were tested on it. Then, a new approach was tested. This uses Data Mining algorithms to develop models to predict the pullout strength based on user chosen parameters. The results reveal that existent code formulations aren’t as accurate as expected and that Data Mining can be a sound alternative or, at least, a good complement since it can also help know and understand the key parameters with relevant influence on the pullout strength of such strengthening systems

Nitrogen oxides measurements in an Amazon site and enhancements associated with a cold front

International audienceAn intensive atmospheric chemistry study was carried out in a pristine Amazonian forest site (Balbina), Amazonas state, Brazil during the 2001 wet season, as part of the LBA/CLAIRE 2001 (The Large Scale Biosphere Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia/Cooperative LBA Airborne Regional Experiment) field campaign. Measurements of nitrogen oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) were performed simultaneously with aerosol particles and black carbon concentrations and meteorological parameters observations. Very low trace gases and aerosol concentrations are typically observed at this pristine tropical site. During the measurement period, there was a three-day episode of enhancement of NO2 and black carbon concentration. NO2 concentration reached a maximum value of 4 ppbv, which corresponds to three times the background concentration observed for this site. Black carbon concentration increased from the approximated 100 ng/m3 average value to a 200 ng/m3 maximum during the same period. Biomass burning spots were detected southward, between latitudes 15 to 10° S, 5?6 days before this episode from GOES-8 WF_ABBA (Wildfire Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm). An atmospheric numerical simulation of the whole measurement period was carried out using the RAMS model coupled to a biomass burning emission and transport model. The simulation results pictured a smoke transport event from Central Brazil associated to an approach of a mid-latitude cold front, reinforcing the hypothesis of biomass burning products being long-range transported from the South by the cold front and crossing the Equator. This transport event shows how the pristine atmosphere pattern in Amazonia is impacted by biomass burning emissions from sites very far away