Diaphragm Walls Seismic Design According to the Eurocodes

Although one can think that it is very low the probability of a seism occurrence during the execution of an excavation in an urban lot protected by a diaphragm wall curtain, reality shows that whenever a seism occurs in an urban area several diaphragm walls will be affected by it. So it is advisable to consider the seismic action when designing a diaphragm wall curtain. The Eurocodes consider the seismic actions in Eurocode 8 (EC 8) and recommend the use of the Mononobe-Okabe method when dealing with soil retaining structures. The Eurocodes consider the possibility of each European country to adopt their own seismic parameters as the seismic risk is different in each country. Thus the so-called National Document of Application prescribes the seismic local parameters. In Portugal the Portuguese Standard ENV 1998-1-1 considers four seismic zones: A, B, C and D. Zone A is the one of greater seismic risk and includes the Lisbon area and the coastline South of Lisbon down to the Algarve. The paper presents the general approach of diaphragm walls design under EC 8 and the application to the case of a diaphragm wall located at Coimbra, near the local Stadium, with an height of 21,5m and four levels of anchorages, each one with a 1.200kN prestress

Industry energy optimization: A case study in a biodiesel production site

This paper presents a case study of heat exchanger network (HEN) retrofit with the objective to reduce the utilities consumption in a biodiesel production process. Pinch analysis studies allow determining the minimum duty utilities as well the maximum of heat recovery. The existence of heat exchangers for heat recovery already running in the process causes a serious restriction for the implementation of grassroot HEN design based on pinch studies. Maintaining the existing HEN, a set of alternatives with additional heat exchangers was created and analysed using some industrial advice and selection criteria. The final proposed solution allows to increase the actual 18 % of recovery heat of the all heating needs of the process to 23 %, with an estimated annual saving in hot utility of 35 k(sic)/y

O Movimento da Matemática Moderna e diferentes propostas curriculares para o ensino de geometria no Brasil e em Portugal.

Disponível em: http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/2912/291222086008.pdfO artigo tem o intuito de refletir sobre como as reformulações da matemática escolar durante o Movimento da Matemática Moderna (MMM) afetam, interferem e modificam as propostas curriculares para o ensino de geometria no Brasil e em Portugal. O currículo de geometria é identificado como um problema (DETIENNE, 2000) que atravessa os dois países, fonte privilegiada para estudos comparativos. Analisamos livros didáticos destinados aos primeiros ciclos do ensino secundário e identificamos quatro casos nos dois países. Dois autores que mantém suas propostas para o ensino da geometria, António Palma Fernandes e Osvaldo Sangiorgi; e os livros de António de Almeida Costa e Alfredo Osório dos Anjos, por um lado, e os do Curso experimental da Bahia, que integram as novas idéias alterando profundamente o currículo geométrico. Em suma, concluímos que a elaboração de currículos apresentados nos livros didáticos não segue de forma linear as recomendações internacionais, mesmo quando elas não são uniformes, como no caso do currículo de geometria durante a Matemática Moderna. As produções deste novo momento curricular hibridizam as influências externas produzindo novas entidades culturais que não são cópias de recomendações curriculares internacionais.Antes procedem de forma diversificada, com maior ou menor sucesso, adaptando-se às contingências de cada sistema educativo

A high level test processor and test program generator

Embedded test within integrated systems allows to overcome some of the difficulties found when testing using only an external tester. The reutilization of a reconfigurable FPGA-like block that may exist in certain SoC systems, enables the implementation of on-chip test processors highly optimized to meet the specific requirements of the test procedure for each block. The fast reconfiguration of SRAM-based FPGA blocks allows sharing the same physical area among the set of different circuits that may be necessary to implement the on-chip test suite of the whole system. This paper addresses the high level generation of specific programmable processors for testing different blocks within integrated systems, taking advantage of such existing programmable resources. The work presented herein proposes a methodology and a set of automation tools to enable the automatic generation of dedicated custom processor architectures for specific test operations, as well as the corresponding test programs. This facility can be seen as disposing of a highly flexible and optimised embedded tester, supplied as an intellectual property (IP) module and its software. The approach being proposed is based in the implementation of a test processor as an Application Specific Instruction-Set Processor (ASIP), whose set of conventional and dedicated instructions are automatically derived from a software specification of the test operation to be implemented. The actual configuration of the test processor is determined by the type of instructions the test designer uses in the test program. The processors instruction set is configured automatically from the source code of the program to be run, in order to include only the exact instructions required for that task. The generation of a test processor starts with a software specification of the test operation to be performed. Presently, this specification is done using a program written in an assembly level language whose instruction set comprises all the general purpose instructions supported by the processor core, plus an extra set of complex instructions that are responsible for the operation of the peripheral specific blocks. From this specification, a custom programmable processor is generated as a set of synthesisable HDL modules, including the identification of peripheral blocks associated to specific instructions, and the set of constrains and assignments required to instantiate and map these modules onto the FPGA. These descriptions are then forwarded to the specific FPGA technology mapping and implementation tools, to create an application-specific processor that includes only the instructions referred in the source code

Erratum: Martins, M.S., et al. Wideband and wIde beam polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) acoustic transducer for broadband underwater. Sensors 2019, 19, 3991

The authors wish to make the following erratum to this paper [...].info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Desenho e desenvolvimento de um Sistema de Informação em Oracle ADF

Um Sistema de Informação consiste num sistema capaz de armazenar, organizar e estruturar dados para ajudar a responder às necessidades das empresas, passando também pela capacidade de resposta às questões diárias das empresas. Assim, um Sistema de Informação pode ser definido como o software que ajuda a organizar e analisar dados, tendo como objetivo fornecer informação útil na altura certa para que possa ser utilizada para a tomada de decisões ou para uma gestão mais eficiente dos diversos fluxos que uma empresa pode conter. Neste sentido, o projeto apresentado centra-se no desenho e construção de um Sistema de Informação capaz de gerir o negócio de uma empresa do setor alimentar, mais propriamente do setor da transformação de carnes. Foi desenvolvido em Oracle ADF, de forma a aproveitar as vantagens inerentes à tecnologia e ao desenvolvimento web. Sendo uma tecnologia relativamente nova no mercado e dominada por poucos, a sua utilização neste momento pode tornar-se uma grande vantagem. Para o desenvolvimento da aplicação foi realizado o levantamento e análise de requisitos, foi criada a base de dados capaz de suportar o funcionamento do software e desenvolvido um sistema de login, capaz de gerir as sessões de cada utilizador. Foi implementado um processo de introdução e edição de informação, nomeadamente o registo de entradas, transformações e saídas. Contemplou-se também uma secção com dados mestre da empresa com a possibilidade de inserção, atualização e/ou remoção. Além disso, foram incorporadas validações em todos os processos que são usados pelos utilizadores, de modo a evitar a existência de dados incoerentes ou duplicados. Relativamente à lógica de negócio, foi embutida na aplicação de forma a permitir consultar a informação de forma clara, rápida e em diversos lugares, reduzindo tempo e tarefas ao colaborador/utilizador, visto que os processos foram automatizados. Com a implementação deste Sistema de Informação, a empresa pode usufruir de um sistema integrado capaz de gerir e controlar todo o seu processo produtivo, reduzindo custos e desperdícios, aumentando a produtividade e eficiência.An Information System is a system able to store, organize and structure data to help meeting the companies' needs, including also the ability to solve the daily issues presented by the companies. Thus, an Information System can be defined as software that helps organize and analyze data, aiming to provide useful information at the right time so it can be used for making decisions or for a better management of the various resources that a company can hold. The presented project focuses on the design and construction of an Information System able to manage the business of a company in the food industry, more specifically the meat processing sector. It was developed in Oracle ADF, in order to take advantage inherent to technology and web development. Being a relatively new technology in the market and dominated by a few, its use at the moment can become a great advantage. For the application's design and development it was carried a phase for requirements analysis, also the creation of a database model capable of supporting the operation of the software, along with this it was also designed a login system that is able to manage the sessions for each user. The processes to manipulate foundation and transactional data had also been considered. It is also contemplated a section with the company's master data with the ability to insert, update and/or remove. Furthermore, validations have been incorporated in all processes that are used by users, in order to avoid inconsistent or duplicate data. With regard to business logic, the application allows visualization of the information clearly, quickly and in different places, reducing time and tasks to the employee/user, since the processes were automated. By implementing this Information System, the company can take advantage of an integrated system capable to manage and control the organization's entire production process, reducing costs and waste, increasing productivity and efficiency

Sustainable Quality Management Systems in the Current Paradigm: The Role of Leadership

This study supports the proposition that sustainability’s integration into Quality Management Systems (QMS) could be a viable pathway to the development of the Emergency paradigm, in which leadership plays a crucial role. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was performed in order to deepen leadership’s relationship with Quality Management (QM) from an evolutionary perspective. An exploratory survey was then conducted to assess quality managers’ perceptions of sustainability’s integration into QMS and their leadership styles, using the 5X Short Leader Form MLQ instrument. The results indicate that leadership is a critical element of QMS performance, enhancing transformational leadership, which appears to be the dominant self-perceived style of the quality managers who participated. Nevertheless, these practitioners recognise the difficulties in committing all employees to the sustainability journey. The theoretical and managerial implications give rise to this work. The SLR results could be a useful database to support future QM and Leadership research. The organisations could follow the suggested pathway to evolve their QMS to support solutions to some of the current challenges. At the same time, quality managers could reflect on their future professional challenges. This work has taken a step forward, indicating sustainable quality management systems as a viable pathway to explore QM knowledge regarding the Emergency paradigm, and thus enhancing leadership’s role.This research was funded by the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy (UIDB/04058/2020), the Centre for Innovation in Engineering and Industrial Technology (UIDB/04730/2020) and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The moderating effect of parenting styles on the relationship between social anxiety and depressive symptomatology in adolescents

Intruduction: The comorbidity between depression and social anxiety is high in adolescence. Parental emotion socialization behaviors have been associated with the development of social skills and depressive symptomatology. Objectives: This study aims to explore the moderating effect of parenting styles on the relationship between social anxiety and depression, to study the associations between them, and to analyze the relationship between parenting styles, social anxiety and depressive symptomatology in adolescents. Methods: The sample consisted of 122 parents and their children. Self-report instruments were used to assess social anxiety, depressive symptomatology and parenting styles. Results: It was found that social anxiety is significantly associated to depression and that the former has a predictive effect on the latter. The parenting styles revealed no significant associations with either depressive symptomatology or with social anxiety, but a moderating effect of explorer parenting style was found in the relationship between social anxiety (public performance) and depressive symptomatology. Conclusions: The present investigation confirmed the existence of a significant association between social anxiety and depressive symptomatology in adolescence and suggests an effect of parental practices of emotional socialization in this relation, which, however, should be replicated in future research. It will also be important to study the effect of parenting styles on children's emotional regulation skills and their possible mediating effect on the relationship between social anxiety and depression.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A avaliação do desempenho docente no contexto da escola pública brasileira: um estudo a partir das percepções dos professores de uma escola do ensino médio

A presente investigação surgiu a partir da situação vivida atualmente pela educação brasileira, no que diz respeito à avaliação do desempenho docente. Pretendeu-se conhecer a realidade de uma escola pública no Estado do Pará, através de uma pesquisa in loco inspirada no estudo de caso, com a finalidade de perceber como, por que e com que consequências profissionais e pedagógicas os professores daquela escola eram avaliados, mesmo que fosse apenas informalmente. No enquadramento conceitual de base foi explorado o tema da profissionalidade docente. Os objetivos principais do estudo permearam a análise sobre a avaliação do desempenho docente e suas finalidades, os instrumentos utilizados para tal avaliação e a relação deste procedimento com as propostas legais existentes. Sustentando o estudo, recorreu-se a uma abordagem metodológica mista, contemplando a utilização de questionários dirigidos aos professores da escola. Espera-se que dos resultados possam ser derivados valiosos contributos para uma melhor compreensão do processo de avaliação do desempenho docente no contexto da educação brasileira e paraense, na medida em que o tema, ainda pouco investigado, causa polêmica quanto aos processos instalados. Os resultados tenderam a apontar para a necessidade de implantação definitiva do sistema de avaliação docente formal no sistema educacional paraense