New Proposals on Portuguese Vegetation (II)

As a consequence of the geobotanical studies that have been developed in west and southern areas of the Iberian Peninsula, four new phytosociological associations are proposed, integrated in the perennial mesophytic grasslands of Stipo giganteae-Agrostietea castellanae (Serratulo flavescentis-Celticetum giganteae, Armerio macrophyllae-Celticetum giganteae, Centaureo rothmaleranae-Celticetum giganteae, and Centaureo coutinhoi-Dactyletum lusitanici). For each proposed unit, besides its syntaxonomical fitting, we present its ecological diagnosis and the serial and catenal context, as well as its patrimonial value

What can Motorsport do to automotive industry development

Ever after the appearance of mankind, evolution has taken place, which occurred thanks to ground breaking inventions, and with those inventions, came innovations. Since the invention of the car itself, there has always been a necessity to make it better – faster, more reliable and efficient and that translated in constant innovations appearing in the automotive industry. There are countless examples of innovation in the automotive industry dating as back as to the beginning of the 20th century and from the moment the car was invented that comparing different cars’ performances has become kind of a necessity. At the moment comparing became competition motorsport was born. This sort of competition and sport became the “vehicle” where major innovation in the automotive takes place. Allowing manufacturers to test new technologies at the harshest conditions let motorsport be the somewhat of the showcase of automotive engineering. The analysis of some of these technologies adopted in road cars that were meant to be in a racing car allowed to conclude what can motorsports do for the automotive industry innovation.Desde o aparecimento do Homem que a evolução acontece, a qual aconteceu graças a invenções revolucionárias, e com essas invenções, surgiram inovações. Desde o momento em que o carro foi inventado que houve necessidade de o melhorar, fazê-lo mais rápido, fiável e eficiente, o qual se traduz em inovações constantes a surgir na indústria automóvel. Existem inúmeros exemplos de inovação automóvel desde o início do século XX, e assim que a invenção do carro se deu que apareceu também a ânsia de o comparar com os restantes existentes em termos de desempenho. No momento em que a comparação entre automóveis começou a competição automóvel nasceu. Este tipo de competição tornou-se um “veículo” onde grandes inovações aconteceriam no automóvel. Permitir a construtores testar novas tecnologias nas mais árduas condições permitiu à competição automóvel tornar-se a montra da engenharia automóvel. A análise a algumas destas tecnologias adotadas em carros de série que tinham como destino um carro de corrida permitiram concluir o que a competição automóvel pode fazer pela inovação na indústria automóvel

The determinants of teacher effectiveness in Portuguese schools

This work project analyses the impact of teachers on student exam scores and the determinants of teacher effectiveness in Portuguese schools. The main findings are that teachers are an important component of student achievement and that unobservable characteristics explain most differences in teacher quality. Having a master’s degree has no impact on teacher quality. Unlike their female counterparts male teachers exhibit losses in their teaching effectiveness over the years. We also find positive and significant peer effects between teachers

Complexos industriais no espaço: uma análise de fuzzy cluster [Identifying industrial complexes: a fuzzy cluster methodology]

This paper estimates a fuzzy cluster methodology for an industrial input-output data basis for Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 1980 and 1996. The aim of the paper is identify industrial complexes and its thickness in the internal economic structure of the State of Minas Gerais. The conclusion highlights the power of the fuzzy methodology in describing spatial economic structure and its intersectoral linkages.Minas Gerais; Brazil; industrial complexes; fuzzy clusters; spatial accessibility

Métodos de análise regional e urbana: diagnóstico aplicado ao planejamento

This paper intends to identify the most important methodological advances on urban and regional methods of analysis for the last fifty years. The aim of the paper is to carry out an applied analysis of the main urban and regional techniques in order to contribute to diagnosis and economy policy on urban and regional economic development. These techniques are divided into three parts: 1) traditional methods; 2) multivariate analysis applied on urban and regional economics; and 3) recent developments. For each technique we will emphasize the most important properties, limits and potentialities to urban and regional development economic policies

Haptic robot-environment interaction for self-supervised learning in ground mobility

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Eletrotécnica e de ComputadoresThis dissertation presents a system for haptic interaction and self-supervised learning mechanisms to ascertain navigation affordances from depth cues. A simple pan-tilt telescopic arm and a structured light sensor, both fitted to the robot’s body frame, provide the required haptic and depth sensory feedback. The system aims at incrementally develop the ability to assess the cost of navigating in natural environments. For this purpose the robot learns a mapping between the appearance of objects, given sensory data provided by the sensor, and their bendability, perceived by the pan-tilt telescopic arm. The object descriptor, representing the object in memory and used for comparisons with other objects, is rich for a robust comparison and simple enough to allow for fast computations. The output of the memory learning mechanism allied with the haptic interaction point evaluation prioritize interaction points to increase the confidence on the interaction and correctly identifying obstacles, reducing the risk of the robot getting stuck or damaged. If the system concludes that the object is traversable, the environment change detection system allows the robot to overcome it. A set of field trials show the ability of the robot to progressively learn which elements of environment are traversable

The role of halouracils in radiotherapy studied by electron transfer in atom-molecule collisions experiments

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia FísicaThe role of ionising radiation as a source of damage to living tissues and cells has been recognized as a key issue regarding cellular DNA integrity and, ultimately, mutagenesis. The lethal effect of radiation, despite being most of the time undesired, can sometimes be useful, as is the case of radiation therapy. However, still the major concern in medicine is that only the cancerous cell material should be destroyed, keeping as much as possible healthy tissue unaffected. One way to control this damage seems to be the application of radiosensitizers that are incorporated into cancer cells. The cancer tissue doped with these radiation sensitizing molecules may be destroyed preferentially under radiation exposure, in very well defined places and even with radiation doses which may be low enough to prevent healthy cell material to be affected in the surrounding medium. This leads to nanodosimetry and so the sorts of interactions have now to be described at the molecular level. Upon irradiation, the most abundant secondary species produced along the radiation track are low energy electrons and so the study of electron induced damage to biological relevant molecules seems indubitably relevant. The research described in this thesis covers for the first time the study of electron transfer on two halouracils (5-chlorouracil and 5-fluorouracil) and isolated DNA/RNA basis (thymine and uracil)by atom-molecule collisions. In order to investigate such molecules, a crossed beam experiment, comprising a neutral potassium beam and a biolomecular effusive beam, was improved and a time-offlight mass spectrometer implemented allowing for the detection of negative ion formation following electron transfer processes in atom-molecule collisions. In these experiments the anionic fragmentation patterns and formation yields were obtained. These results are shown to be significantly different from the dissociative electron attachment (free electrons) results, unveiling that the damaging potential of secondary electrons to biomolecules can be somewhat underestimated. In addition, the halouracils sensibility to electron induced damage appears to be enhanced with respect to thymine and uracil, which may be extremely relevant as it reinforces their effectiveness as radiosensitizer molecules.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology - SFRH/BD/32271/200