Notre Dame Cathedral: Another case in a growing list of heritage landmarks destroyed by fire

[Excerpt] April 16, 2019. After a more than twelve-hour battle involving 600 firefighters [1], the massive blaze that has destroyed much of the timber roof and toppled the Gothic spire of the Notre Dame Cathedral is fully extinguished. The official cause of the fire is still being investigated, but it seems likely that it may have resulted from restoration works taking place in the 850-year-old structure. After surviving the French Revolution and Nazi occupation during World War II, Notre Dame Cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, succumbed to a blaze. As if this were not enough, a large number of extraordinary works of art, musical instruments, statues, woodworks, and religious relics, the full list of which is available on the Cathedral’s website [2], may also have been lost, not only due to the heat but also in consequence of the enormous quantities of water used to fight the fire. Even though it may be premature to draw any conclusions regarding this specific case, it is worth reflecting on the fact that Notre Dame Cathedral is just another entry in a long list of cultural heritage landmarks that have been, wholly or partially, tragically destroyed by fire. Among many other significant examples, such as Windsor Castle, York Minster, the Venice and Barcelona opera houses, and Bosnia’s National Library, it is impossible not to make note here of the National Museum of Brazil, which was ravaged by a huge fire on the night of September 2, 2018. Although some items were saved, the early nineteenth-century building was completely destroyed, in addition to more than 90% of its archive of 20 million items [3], including its Egyptology collection, which was one of the largest in Latin America, and some of the oldest human remains ever found in the Americas. […](undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Recent advances in the assessment of flood risk in urban areas

The adverse effects of flood disasters in urban areas have been increasing in severity and extent over the past years [...]This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through thepostdoctoral grant SFRH/BPD/122598/2016

Innovations and new approaches regarding the detection of measurable residual disease in lymphomas - a systematic review

Introdução: Os linfomas são doenças neoplásicas que surgem a partir de células do tecido linfático e podem afetar qualquer órgão do corpo. Estas neoplasias consistem em células B e células T malignas. Os linfomas de células B são histologicamente classificados em linfoma de Hodgkin (HL) e linfoma não-Hodgkin (NHL). O linfoma de Hodgkin clássico (cHL) é o subtipo mais frequente de HL, composto por células Reed-Sternberg. Os linfomas não-Hodgkin consistem em linfoma difuso de grandes células B, o mais comum, linfoma folicular e linfoma do manto. O tratamento consiste em quimioterapia, radioterapia, imunoterapia ou uma combinação. A presença de doença residual mensurável (MRD) é determinada pela existência de células clonais previamente ao aparecimento de sinais e sintomas. PET/CT é comummente usado na avaliação da resposta ao tratamento e na identificação de recorrência, no entanto, a sua utilização na vigilância de recaída não demonstra melhoria do outcome. Objetivos: Este artigo aborda as limitações das atuais técnicas de monitorização de MRD e a necessidade de métodos mais sensíveis. Fonte de informação: pesquisa sistemática na PUBMED e MEDLINE, usando a seguinte query: "lymphoma + minimal residual disease + liquid biopsy". Critérios: estudos que envolvam adultos diagnosticados com cHL, DLBCL, FL e MCL, cujo MRD foi avaliado utilizando técnicas baseadas na biópsia líquida. Resultados: A aplicação de circulating-tumor DNA (ctDNA), new-generation sequencing e droplet-digital PCR são discutidos como potenciais alternativas para a determinação de MRD. Limitações: os artigos incluídos são maioritariamente observacionais e as características dos doentes envolvidos nos estudos variam, dentro da análise à mesma técnica. Implicações futuras: Estes métodos foram estudados de forma extensiva pelo seu potencial em detetar precocemente doença recorrente e abre a possibilidade de iniciar atempadamente um novo regime de tratamento ou permite a modificação da estratégia terapêutica.Background: lymphomas are neoplastic diseases arising from cells of the lymphatic tissue and can affect almost any organ in the body. They can arise from B or T cells. B lymphomas are histologically subclassified into Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is the most frequent subtype of HL, composed of Reed-Steinberg cells. Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of NHL, followed by follicular lymphoma (FL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). The treatment options for these lymphomas include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, or a combination. The existence of lymphoma clonal cells prior to clinical presentation is known as measurable residual disease (MRD). PET/CT is commonly used to evaluate treatment response and identify disease recurrence, but its use during disease surveillance has not led to improved outcomes. Objectives: this article emphasizes the limitations of current MRD monitoring techniques and the need for newer, more sensitive methods. Data sources: systematic search in PUBMED and MEDLINE databases, using the following query: "lymphoma + minimal residual disease + liquid biopsy" Study criteria: cHL, DLBCL, FL, and MCL adult patients whose MRD was assessed using novel liquid biopsy-based methodologies. Results: the use of circulating-tumor DNA, next-generation sequencing, and digital-droplet PCR are considered as potential alternatives for MRD assessment. Limitations: the articles that were included in the analysis are mainly observational studies, and patient characteristic differ between studies, within the same technique. Implications of key findings: these methods have been extensively researched for their potential to detect early disease relapse and open the possibility to start proactive salvage therapy or effectively change treatment strategy

Access Control in Weakly Consistent Systems

Eventually consistent models have become popular in the last years in data storage systems for cloud environments, allowing to give users better availability and lower latency. In this model, it is possible for replicas to be temporarily inconsistent, having been proposed various solutions to deal with this inconsistency and ensure the final convergence of data. However, defining and enforcing access control policies under this model is still an open challenge. The implementation of access control policies for these systems raises it’s own challenges, given the information about the permissions is itself kept in a weakly consistent form. In this dissertation, a solution for this problem is proposed, that allows to prevent the non authorized access and modification of data. The proposed solution allows concurrent modifications on the security policies, ensuring their convergence when they are used to verify and enforce access control the associated data. In this dissertation we present an evaluation of the proposed model, showing the solution respects the correct functioning over possible challenging situations, also discussing its application on scenarios that feature peer-to-peer communication between clients and additional replicas on the clients, with the goal of providing a lower latency and reduce the load on centralized components

Planning and verification of multipath routing protocols

Conventionally the problem of the best path in a network refers to the shortest path problem. However, for the vast majority of networks present nowadays this solution has some limitations which directly affect their proper functioning, as well as an inefficient use of their potentialities. Problems at the level of large networks where graphs of high complexity are commonly present as well as the appearing of new services and their respective requirements, are intrinsically related to the inability of this solution. In order to overcome the needs present in these networks, a new approach to the problem of the best path must be explored. One solution that has aroused more interest in the scientific community considers the use of multiple paths between two network nodes, where they can all now be considered as the best path between those nodes. Therefore, the routing will be discontinued only by minimizing one metric, where only one path between nodes is chosen, and shall be made by the selection of one of many paths, thereby allowing the use of a greater diversity of the present paths (obviously, if the network consents). The establishment of multi-path routing in a given network has several advantages for its operation. Its use may well improve the distribution of network traffic, improve recovery time to failure, or it can still offer a greater control of the network by its administrator. These factors still have greater relevance when networks have large dimensions, as well as when their constitution is of high complexity, such as the Internet, where multiple networks managed by different entities are interconnected. A large part of the growing need to use multipath protocols is associated to the routing made based on policies. Therefore, paths with different characteristics can be considered with equal level of preference, and thus be part of the solution for the best way problem. To perform multi-path routing using protocols based only on the destination address has some limitations but it is possible. Concepts of graph theory of algebraic structures can be used to describe how the routes are calculated and classified, enabling to model the routing problem. This thesis studies and analyzes multi-path routing protocols from the known literature and derives a new algebraic condition which allows the correct operation of these protocols without any network restriction. It also develops a range of software tools that allows the planning and the respective verification/validation of new protocols models according to the study made

Near Real Time Data Aggregation for NLP

Com o aumento do uso das redes sociais, o número de opções de rede para usar e a variedade de funcionalidades que elas permitem leva à necessidade de os gestores desportivos prestarem uma atenção especial a estes meios. É seguindo este pensamento que surge o Projeto PLAYOFF e consequentemente esta tese. Foi feito um levantamento da literatura existente de soluções que combinam Apache Kafka com modelos de machine learning e foi possível verificar que, apesar de soluções diferentes, já existem referencias nesses domínios. É apresentada uma comparação entre Apache Kafka e RabbitMQ e as razões da escolha ter recaído para o Kafka. É apresentada de forma geral uma arquitetura de um projeto Kafka e, posteriormente, as diferentes abordagens pensadas e desenvolvidas no âmbito da dissertação, assim como o formato das mensagens trocadas usando este sistema. Uma serie de testes e seus resultados são descritos, de modo a comprovar a sua escolha e utilização. Nestes testes diferentes abordagem de execução paralela (threads e processos) são apresentadas, assim como a forma de obter dados das APIs das redes sociais também possui diferentes abordagens. As alterações que foram realizadas aos modelos originais são descritas e explicadas as razões para essas mudanças e de que forma se enquadram na ferramenta desenvolvida. Foi realizado um teste global e final, designado por “Teste Piloto”, onde em ambiente real, com um evento real foram testados todos os componentes deste projeto, incluindo os sistemas externos desenvolvidos pela MOG Technologies e os componentes desenvolvidos no âmbito desta dissertação. Por fim, é possível comprovar as soluções apresentadas e opções finais escolhidas para o projeto, através dos resultados obtidos nos diferentes testes. É ainda proposto trabalho futuro de continuação do desenvolvido.With the increasing use of social networks, the number of network options to use and the variety of functionalities that they allow leads to the need for sports managers to pay special attention to these media. It is following this thought that the PLAYOFF Project emerges and consequently this thesis. A search of the existing literature on solutions that combine Apache Kafka with machine learning models was carried out and it was possible to verify that, despite different solutions, there are already references in these domains. A comparison between Apache Kafka and RabbitMQ and the reasons for choosing Kafka are presented. A general architecture of a Kafka project is presented, as well as the different approaches thought and developed within the scope of the dissertation, as well as the format of the messages exchanged using this system. A series of tests and their results are described, in order to prove their choice and use. In these tests different parallel execution approaches (threads and processes) are presented, as well as the way of obtaining data from the APIs of social networks also has different approaches. The changes that were made to the original models are described and explained the reasons for these changes and how they fit into the developed tool. A final and global test was carried out, called “Pilot Test”, where in a real environment, with a real event, all the components of this project were tested, including the external systems developed by MOG Technologies and the components developed within the scope of this dissertation. Finally, it is possible to verify the solutions presented and final options chosen for the project, through the results obtained in the different tests. It is also proposed future work of continuation of the developed

Towards a semi-quantitative approach for assessing evacuation scenarios in the context of Popocatépetl Volcano, México - The case of San Pedro Tlalmimilulpan

Volcanic exposure implies multiple hazards for human settlements. The identification of the potential hazards that volcanic activity can entail is a challenge requiring assessing the specific situations that a determined place would face. Popocatépetl, a volcano in the centre of México, represents a significant hazard source, and it is located within a densely populated region with more than 20 million people. Despite the existence of a colour-based volcano alert level system for the current activity of the volcano, it is relevant to assess which local scenarios are more likely depending on numerous variables, namely, related to the distance from the volcano. A semi-quantitative analysis was carried out based on existing hazard maps and considering the probability of occurrence of volcanic explosivity, taking the settlement of San Pedro Tlalmimilulpan as a case study. This analysis led to a hierarchised rank of hazards, providing a basis for analysing multiple scenarios through failure mode and event analysis, failure tree analysis and event tree analysis. This process facilitates the contextualisation of the multiple challenges and potential chains of events that emergency actions, namely, emergency evacuations, would face. The analysis of the critical paths can help to identify critical aspects that could hinder the post-event response.This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the grant number PD/BD/150385/2019

An integrated approach for assessing flood risk in historic city centres

Historic city centres near watercourses are a specific type of urban area that are particularly vulnerable to flooding. In this study, we present a new methodology of flood risk assessment that crosses hazard and physical vulnerability information. We have selected the Historic City Centre of Guimarães (Portugal), a UNESCO Heritage Site, for developing and testing the defined methodology. The flood hazard scenario was obtained through the hydrologic–hydraulic modelling of peak flows with a 100-year return period, which provided flood extent, depths, and velocities. A decomposition of the momentum equation, using depth and velocity, allowed reaching a final hazard score. Flood vulnerability was assessed through combining an exposure component and a sensitivity component, from field-collected data regarding wall orientation, heritage status, age, number of storeys, condition, and material of buildings. By combining the results of the hazard and vulnerability modules in a risk-matrix, three qualitative levels of flood risk were defined. The individual and crossed analysis of results proved to be complementary. On one hand, it allows the identification of the more relevant risk factors—from the hazard or vulnerability modules. On the other hand, the risk-matrix identified other buildings with a high risk that otherwise would remain unnoticed to risk managers.Tiago M. Ferreira is funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the postdoctoral grant SFRH/BPD/122598/2016 and Pedro P. Santos is funded through the project with the reference CEEIND/00268/2017

An Introduction to Multi-hazard Risk Interactions Towards Resilient and Sustainable Cities

The relationship between disaster resilience and sustainability in the context of urban risk has gained significant attention in recent years as the research and technical community work towards a safer, more sustainable way of living. Urban risk is a complex matrix that involves multiple elements at risk, hazards, temporal scales, and vulnerabilities, and this is why traditional risk assessment approaches that focus on addressing the impacts of a single hazard are inadequate for effectively assessing and managing urban risk, particularly in the current climate change context. With this in mind, the present chapter provides an introduction to the concept of multi-hazard risk and its relevance to resilient and sustainable cities by listing and briefly discussing the types of natural hazards that impact cities the most and examining the importance of risk assessment and management in reducing the risks posed by these hazards. The chapter also explores strategies for building resilience in cities, including the strengthening of physical infrastructure and the enhancement of social and economic resilience, and concludes by discussing future directions for research and practice in multi-hazard risk management for resilient and sustainable cities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Characterisation of the historic urban landscape through the Aristotelian four causes: towards comprehensive GIS databases

The Historic Urban Landscape provides a basis to comprehensively study the city, considering the numerous agents and stakeholders involved in the urban phenomenon. However, the characterisation of the city is challenging, due to the numerous ways of reading and using the city. Although several theoretical approaches address the process of documenting the city, there is still a gap related to the design of a generalised, holistic, and comprehensive framework. This article aims to contribute to this purpose by discussing the concept of the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) and its implications for the characterisation of the urban phenomena. The Aristotelian theory of the causes is proposed here as a suitable approach for the description, characterisation, and analysis of virtually any entity by first discussing its theoretical basis and then testing it in a real building located in the historical city, Guimarães, Portugal. A set of tools related to Geographic Information System databases are comprehensively explored during the implementation process of the approach, allowing to identify and discuss a set of limitations, challenges, and opportunities.This research was funded by the European Union through the European Social Found and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the grant number PD/BD/150385/2019