Psychosocial and economic impacts of a charge in lightweight plastic carrier bags in Portugal: Keep calm and carry on?

Reducing plastic waste has become an urgent global challenge. To help fight this problem, European countries have undertaken the mission to reduce lightweight plastic bag consumption. In 2014, Portugal implemented a charge on lightweight plastic bags, calling for an adjustment from both consumers and firms. The present re- search aims to study the psychosocial and economic impacts of this tax measure, namely in terms of acceptability of the measure, potential attitude and behaviour changes, and impact on plastic bag markets. The psychosocial impacts were studied based on an online survey (N = 198) and on available datasets illustrating societal trends. Survey results showed that participants agreed with the charge and with widening it to all types of plastic bags. They attributed environmental motives to its implementation, developed reuse habits and mentioned a de- creased consumption of disposable plastics. In addition, individuals appear more concerned with the impacts of everyday plastic products in the environment, and more willing to pay higher taxes and prices to protect the environment. The economic impacts were studied using available data on the charge revenue and on the production and sales of plastic bags, among others. We illustrate that the implementation of the charge led to a sharp fall in the use of lightweight bags, generating a decrease in the production and sale of plastic bags overall, while avoiding significant impacts on the relevant economic sectors.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

An innovative framework for probabilistic-based structural assessment with an application to existing reinforced concrete structures

A novel framework for probabilistic-based structural assessment of existing structures, which combines model identification and reliability assessment procedures, considering in an objective way different sources of uncertainty, is presented in this paper. A short description of structural assessment applications, provided in literature, is initially given. Then, the developed model identification procedure, supported in a robust optimization algorithm, is presented. Special attention is given to both experimental and numerical errors, to be considered in this algorithm convergence criterion. An updated numerical model is obtained from this process. The reliability assessment procedure, which considers a probabilistic model for the structure in analysis, is then introduced, incorporating the results of the model identification procedure. The developed model is then updated, as new data is acquired, through a Bayesian inference algorithm, explicitly addressing statistical uncertainty. Finally, the developed framework is validated with a set of reinforced concrete beams, which were loaded up to failure in laboratory

Therapy adherence in community elderly from inner and coast councils of Northern Portugal

Global aging associated with chronic comorbidities leads to increased simultaneous use of drugs and complex drug therapies. Therapy adherence is essential to ensure the effectiveness of therapeutic and control of chronic diseases in elderly. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of therapy adherence and associated factors in community elderly from inner and coast councils of northern Portugal. Methods: This cross-sectional and correlational study was based on a questionnaire, with MAT scale (measure of adherence to therapy) validated for the Portuguese population (Delgado & Lima, 2001), applied by interview to 384 elderly (≥65 years) living in the community in northern Portugal councils of Esposende, Guimarães and Lamego. It was used descriptive statistics and Chi-Square test, with a significance level of 5%. Results: The sample consisted mainly of females elderly (60,7%), with age mean of 75.8 years old, while 47.7% was between 65-74 years. On average, 4.99 different drugs are administered per day, being medicines that act on the circulatory system the most prescribed. The prevalence of therapy adherence was 86,6%. Elderly people who have help with medication, are those who most adhere to drug therapy (p=0.035). Conclusions: This study shows a considerable prevalence of therapy adherence. Having help with medication seems to be associated with better therapy adherence.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Membrane ultrafiltration for oil-from-water separation: Multidisciplinary lab experiment

An ultrafiltration membrane module was assembled and used for treating an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion. This lab set-up was implemented to teach membrane separation processes within Chemical or Environmental Engineering programmes. The experimental set-up and procedure are described, as well as typical results obtained by students, underlining the main objectives and reasoning expected to be accomplished in each stage of the work. Particular emphasis is given to the discussion of the impact of some variables, such as pressure driving force, surface velocity and emulsion concentration, on concentration polarization, recovery and rejection. The use of this technology at an industrial scale is also discussed. The implemented lab experiment has a relevant pedagogic impact and facilitates students to grasp the inherent theoretical concepts, as perceived from their reports and oral discussions. Moreover, the work has been well accepted and appreciated by students, as can be inferred from the questionnaire; their assessment also showed the fulfilment of the established technical and pedagogic objectives. Particularly relevant is the importance that students attribute to the execution of the experimental work to comprehend the concepts (i.e. importance of a hands-on approach)

Mass spectrometry parameters optimization for the 46 multiclass pesticides determination in strawberries with gas chromatography ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry

Multiclass analysis method was optimized in order to analyze pesticides traces by gas chromatography with ion-trap and tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The influence of some analytical parameters on pesticide signal response was explored. Five ion trap mass spectrometry (IT-MS) operating parameters, including isolation time (IT), excitation voltage (EV), excitation time (ET),maximum excitation energy or “q” value (q), and isolationmass window (IMW) were numerically tested in order to maximize the instrument analytical signal response. For this, multiple linear regression was used in data analysis to evaluate the influence of the five parameters on the analytical response in the ion trap mass spectrometer and to predict its response. The assessment of the five parameters based on the regression equations substantially increased the sensitivity of IT-MS/MS in the MS/MS mode. The results obtained show that for most of the pesticides, these parameters have a strong influence on both signal response and detection limit.Using the optimized method, a multiclass pesticide analysis was performed for 46 pesticides in a strawberry matrix. Levels higher than the limit established for strawberries by the European Union were found in some samples

Palm oil kernel shell as solid fuel for the commercial and industrial sector in Ecuador: tax incentive impact and performance of a prototype burner

The Ecuadorian industrial and commercial sectors are in general supported in the use of diesel for energy purposes. An alternative to replace diesel could be the use of palm oil residual biomass as solid fuel. It is estimated that 57.7% of the capital costs required to implement a biomass boiler that use untreated palm oil kernel shell (KS) as fuel in replacement of a diesel boiler would be covered by in force tax incentives. Nonetheless, untaxed and subsidized diesel utilization coupled to the important capital and operating costs associated to the biomass boiler results in relatively high payback periods, within the range of 6 to 7.9 years. Analyzing a base case, it is observed that replacement of diesel by KS results in a reduction of 8 times the fuel costs. Implementation of pre-treatment processes (e.g. pelletizing) could increase the KS price, affecting the potential to lower the costs of thermal energy production. Accordingly, utilization of raw KS for thermal energy production was demonstrated using a horizontal burner prototype. The experimental analysis of the KS combustion process shows that combustion efficiency (99.8%) is as high as that observed in other type of biomass burners. During the steady state operation periods, CO concentration in the flue gases (260.1 mg/Nm3) was below the limit established by the European standards for solid fuel boilers (500 mg/Nm3). Ash sintering was observed in the grate during the combustion experiments. The ash discharge process induced periodic fluctuations in the combustion chamber temperature profile as well as fluctuations in the flue gas composition. Despite these localized and periodic temperature and gas composition fluctuations, in the whole, and considering longer periods of operation, the combustion system was under steady state conditions and showed to be suitable for energetic valorization of untreated KS.publishe

Neuromielite longitudinalmente extensa: dificuldades diagnósticas e terapêuticas

N/

Novel trends on the assessment and management of maritime infrastructures: Outcomes from GIIP project

Climatic conditions, load, fatigue, aging and other factors causes a deterioration in civil infrastructures. As a consequence, repair and maintenance work actions are needed, being the former considered as more expensive than the latter ones. Indeed, an accurate method for measuring corrosion is a fundamental prerequisite for the detection of damaged areas and for planning an effective repairing of concrete maritime structures. In this article a comparation between two surrogate models, Markov Chains and Neuronal Networks, is presented and applied to predict the results of corrosion sensors of an infrastructure data set. The proposed methodology benefits from current monitoring practice and have the objective to develop a modular decision support system for the integrated asset management, taking into account operational, economic and environmental criteria. The results could contribute to the possibility of adapting these degradation models to aggressive environments and repaired structures, thus generating accurate maintenance strategies, and reducing costs. This methodology is part of the ongoing study “GIIP- Intelligent Port Infrastructure Management”