Selection of key sustainable indicators to steel buildings in early design phases

The construction industry attempts to produce buildings with the least possible environmental impact. However, construction activities still greatly impacting the environment; therefore, it is necessary to consider a sustainable project approach, based on its performance. Sustainability is an important issue to consider in design, due to environmental concerns and economic and social issues, promoting the architectural quality and economic advantages. This paper aims to identify the phases that a design project should pass through, emphasising the importance and ability of earlier ones to influence the level of sustainability, performance and life cost over project life. Then one intends to select a set of sustainability indicators, based on a pre-set list, predicting its adaptability to the conceptual and pre-design phases under steel buildings. The output of this paper is aimed to aid the development of a tool/concepts that would enable designers to compare and evaluate the consequences of different design solutions, based on preliminary data and facilitate the collaboration between various partners and client and eventually yield a sustainable and high performance building through its life cycle.Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS

O caminho da aprendizagem : relatório de estágio

Este relatório surge pela necessidade de relatar a experiência pela qual passei no decorrer deste percurso de formação como Enfermeira Especialista em Saúde Infantil e Pediatria. Tem como objectivo dar a conhecer as competências que me foram propostas desenvolver, as actividades que implementei para lhes dar resposta e também o exercício reflexivo inerente a essas mesmas actividades. Os estágios decorreram de Abril de 2009 a Janeiro de 2010 e tiveram lugar no Serviço de Pediatria do Hospital Pedro Hispano e nos Serviços de Neonatologia e de Urgência Pediátrica do Hospital São João. Apenas efectuei dois módulos de estágio uma vez que obtive creditação a um módulo de estágio por trabalhar como enfermeira nos cuidados de saúde primários há seis anos. Tendo percorrido este percurso, sinto que adquiri uma nova capacidade de prestar cuidados de enfermagem às crianças e às suas famílias e simultaneamente desenvolvi uma nova perspectiva daquilo que são os cuidados prestados a esta díade. Possuo agora novas competências que me permitiram um maior desenvolvimento pessoal e profissional e que futuramente me irão ajudar neste meu percurso como enfermeira especialista.This is a paper that intends to show the experiences that I’ve been throughout my formative period as a future pediatric nurse. Its main objective is showing the activities that I developed in order to be able to achieve the skills that were proposed to me in the beginning of this course. Besides this, while describing the activities I also reflect about them. My traineeship was from April 2009 until January 2010. It took place in three different places: Pediatric Unit of Hospital Pedro Hispano, Intensive Neonatal Care Unit of Hospital São João and Pediatric Emergency Unit also from Hospital São João. The whole traineeship involved three different stage modules, but I only made two due to the attribution of a credit unit. I had this right because I work as a community nurse for more than six years. Having been down this pathway, I feel like I’ve gain a new ability to be a nurse that cares for children and their families. Simultaneously I’ve developed a new perspective concerning the type of caring involving these realities. I now have new skills that allowed me to become a better person and a better nurse, and without a doubt will help as a pediatric nurse

Smartsuit Design

A sociedade contemporânea vive rodeada de artefactos e serviços cada vez mais diversificados. Nesta corrente, o design mergulha na era dos têxteis inteligentes e na incorporação desta tecnologia no desenvolvimento de novos produtos. Se, por um lado, este novo tipo de têxteis pode satisfazer uma necessidade prática, por outro, poderá tornar-se uma expressão de identidade cultural. Esta mudança no têxtil é alcançada através de novos materiais, tecnologias e abordagens multidisciplinares. A introdução de tecnologias de computação em estruturas têxteis oferece uma oportunidade para o desenvolvimento de produtos têxteis com novos comportamentos e funcionalidades. Através do projeto aqui apresentado, pretende-se inovar e desenvolver produtos têxteis inteligentes. Após pesquisa sistemática foi selecionada uma área de intervenção tecnológica – a medida da atividade cardíaca, conjugada com uma atividade desportiva, o ciclismo. Este documento descreve o processo de design e desenvolvimento de um skinsuit para ciclismo, com elétrodos embebidos para a monitorização da frequência cardíaca e desempenho físico – de forma prática e discreta. Os elétrodos foram produzidos e testados, utilizando diferentes materiais e técnicas têxteis. A medição do sinal é feita através do dispositivo BBB - Bluetooth 4.0 (Y8YBH20) e os testes de desempenho foram realizados pelo aplicativo móvel BBB - Bikeboard. Como resultado, foi obtido um skinsuit com design contemporâneo.Contemporary society lives surrounded by increasingly diverse artefacts and services. In this chain, design plunges into the era of smart textiles and the incorporation of this technology in the development of new products. Whilst on one hand, this new type of textiles can satisfy a practical need; on the other hand, it can become an expression of cultural identity. This change in the textile is achieved through new materials, technologies and multidisciplinary approaches. The introduction of computing technologies into textile structures offers an opportunity for the development of textile products with new behaviours and functionalities. Through the project presented here, we intend to innovate and develop smart textile products. After systematic research, an area of technological intervention was selected - the measurement of cardiac activity, coupled with a sporting activity, cycling. This document describes the design and development process of a skinsuit for cycling, with embedded electrodes for monitoring heart rate and physical performance - practically and discreetly. The electrodes were produced and tested using different materials and textile techniques. Through the BBB - Bluetooth 4.0 device (Y8YBH20) signal measurement is done, and the BBB - Bikeboard mobile application was used for performance tests. As a result, a skinsuit with a contemporary design was obtained.Suportado pelo Programa Operacional Regional do Norte, nos termos do Aviso de Abertura de Candidatura n.o NORTE-45-2015-02 – Sistema de Apoio à Investigação Científica e Tecnológica – “Projetos Estruturados de I&D&I”, enquadrado na Unidade de Investigação IPC/i3N. Este livro foi desenvolvido no âmbito do projeto – TSSiPRO - Technologies for Sustainable and Smart Innovative Products, código da operação NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000015

Actin stress fiber organization promotes cell stiffening and proliferation of pre-invasive breast cancer cells

This deposit is composed by the main article and supplementary files of the publication.Studies of the role of actin in tumour progression have highlighted its key contribution in cell softening associated with cell invasion. Here, using a human breast cell line with conditional Src induction, we demonstrate that cells undergo a stiffening state prior to acquiring malignant features. This state is characterized by the transient accumulation of stress fibres and upregulation of Ena/VASP-like (EVL). EVL, in turn, organizes stress fibres leading to transient cell stiffening, ERK-dependent cell proliferation, as well as enhancement of Src activation and progression towards a fully transformed state. Accordingly, EVL accumulates predominantly in premalignant breast lesions and is required for Src-induced epithelial overgrowth in Drosophila. While cell softening allows for cancer cell invasion, our work reveals that stress fibre-mediated cell stiffening could drive tumour growth during premalignant stages. A careful consideration of the mechanical properties of tumour cells could therefore offer new avenues of exploration when designing cancer-targeting therapies.Bloomington Drosophila Stock Centre; Vienna Drosophila Research Center (VDRC); Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank (DSHB); Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) grant: (IF/01031/2012); Laço Grant in breast cancer 2015; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grant: (Alexander von Humboldt Professorship); Liga Portuguesa contra o Cancro/Pfizer.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

TCTEX1D4, a novel protein phosphatase 1 interactor: connecting the phosphatase to the microtubule network

Reversible phosphorylation plays an important role as a mechanism of intracellular control in eukaryotes. PPP1, a major eukaryotic Ser/Thr-protein phosphatase, acquires its specificity by interacting with different protein regulators, also known as PPP1 interacting proteins (PIPs). In the present work we characterized a physiologically relevant PIP in testis. Using a yeast two-hybrid screen with a human testis cDNA library, we identified a novel PIP of PPP1CC2 isoform, the T-complex testis expressed protein 1 domain containing 4 (TCTEX1D4) that has recently been described as a Tctex1 dynein light chain family member. The overlay assays confirm that TCTEX1D4 interacts with the different spliced isoforms of PPP1CC. Also, the binding domain occurs in the N-terminus, where a consensus PPP1 binding motif (PPP1BM) RVSF is present. The distribution of TCTEX1D4 in testis suggests its involvement in distinct functions, such as TGFβ signaling at the blood-testis barrier and acrosome cap formation. Immunofluorescence in human ejaculated sperm shows that TCTEX1D4 is present in the flagellum and in the acrosome region of the head. Moreover, TCTEX1D4 and PPP1 co-localize in the microtubule organizing center (MTOC) and microtubules in cell cultures. Importantly, the TCTEX1D4 PPP1BM seems to be relevant for complex formation, for PPP1 retention in the MTOC and movement along microtubules. These novel results open new avenues to possible roles of this dynein, together with PPP1. In essence TCTEX1D4/PPP1C complex appears to be involved in microtubule dynamics, sperm motility, acrosome reaction and in the regulation of the blood-testis barrier

Aggregation and phase equilibria of fluorinated ionic liquids

Grant SFRH/BD/100563/2014. IF/00190/2014 . IF/00210/2014. PTDC/EQU-EQU/29737/2017. PTDC/QEQ-FTT/3289/2014. IF/00210/2014/CP1244/CT0003. UID/QUI/50006/2019. POCI-01-0145-FEDER - 007265.In this work a specific family of ionic liquids, denominated fluorinated ionic liquids, with fluorine tags equal or longer than four carbon atoms, are fully characterized in order to understand their solubility and self-aggregation in aqueous solutions. The numerous combinations between cations and anions make these compounds a feasible option for the replacement of traditional and toxic surfactants used in the industrial and biomedical field. In this work, the increment of both hydrogenated and fluorinated side chain lengths, the influence of the cation headgroup (imidazolium and cholinium)as well as the difference between perfluorobutanesulfonate and perfluoropentanoate anions were studied. The liquid-liquid phase equilibria of fluorinated ionic liquids based on the perfluorobutanesulfonate anion with water were carried out. The self-aggregation behaviour of the different fluorinated ionic liquids in aqueous solutions was also determined using conductimetric titration, surface tension measurements and transmission electron microscopy. Several thermodynamic and surface parameters were obtained and used to discuss the aggregation process. These novel characterized fluorinated ionic liquids demonstrate an improved surface activity and aggregation behaviour, driven essentially by the increment of both hydrogenated and fluorinated chain lengths.authorsversionpublishe

Reconciling evidence from ancient and contemporary genomes: a major source for the European Neolithic within Mediterranean Europe

Important gaps remain in our understanding of the spread of farming into Europe, due partly to apparent contradictions between studies of contemporary genetic variation and ancient DNA. It seems clear that farming was introduced into central, northern, and eastern Europe from the south by pioneer colonization. It is often argued that these dispersals originated in the Near East, where the potential source genetic pool resembles that of the early European farmers, but clear ancient DNA evidence from Mediterranean Europe is lacking, and there are suggestions that Mediterranean Europe may have resembled the Near East more than the rest of Europe in the Mesolithic. Here, we test this proposal by dating mitogenome founder lineages from the Near East in different regions of Europe. We find that whereas the lineages date mainly to the Neolithic in central Europe and Iberia, they largely date to the Late Glacial period in central/eastern Mediterranean Europe. This supports a scenario in which the genetic pool of Mediterranean Europe was partly a result of Late Glacial expansions from a Near Eastern refuge, and that this formed an important source pool for subsequent Neolithic expansions into the rest of Europ

A genetic chronology for the Indian Subcontinent points to heavily sex-biased dispersals

Background India is a patchwork of tribal and non-tribal populations that speak many different languages from various language families. Indo-European, spoken across northern and central India, and also in Pakistan and Bangladesh, has been frequently connected to the so-called “Indo-Aryan invasions” from Central Asia ~3.5 ka and the establishment of the caste system, but the extent of immigration at this time remains extremely controversial. South India, on the other hand, is dominated by Dravidian languages. India displays a high level of endogamy due to its strict social boundaries, and high genetic drift as a result of long-term isolation which, together with a very complex history, makes the genetic study of Indian populations challenging. Results We have combined a detailed, high-resolution mitogenome analysis with summaries of autosomal data and Y-chromosome lineages to establish a settlement chronology for the Indian Subcontinent. Maternal lineages document the earliest settlement ~55–65 ka (thousand years ago), and major population shifts in the later Pleistocene that explain previous dating discrepancies and neutrality violation. Whilst current genome-wide analyses conflate all dispersals from Southwest and Central Asia, we were able to tease out from the mitogenome data distinct dispersal episodes dating from between the Last Glacial Maximum to the Bronze Age. Moreover, we found an extremely marked sex bias by comparing the different genetic systems. Conclusions Maternal lineages primarily reflect earlier, pre-Holocene processes, and paternal lineages predominantly episodes within the last 10 ka. In particular, genetic influx from Central Asia in the Bronze Age was strongly male-driven, consistent with the patriarchal, patrilocal and patrilineal social structure attributed to the inferred pastoralist early Indo-European society. This was part of a much wider process of Indo-European expansion, with an ultimate source in the Pontic-Caspian region, which carried closely related Y-chromosome lineages, a smaller fraction of autosomal genome-wide variation and an even smaller fraction of mitogenomes across a vast swathe of Eurasia between 5 and 3.5 ka