O Golfo de água doce. Urbanismo nos Emirados Árabes Unidos

A arquitectura e o urbanismo praticado em alguns países árabes têm revelado um sentido exponencial de crescimento e um grau de espectacularidade a que ninguém pode ficar alheio. Entre todos as nações da Liga Árabe, existe um país em especial badalado pelos seus feitos, especialmente nestes campos - os Emirados Árabes Unidos. Com uma economia sustentada em grande parte pelos seus recursos petrolíferos e exercendo uma política de neutralidade face a todos os conflitos que povoam a sua vizinhança, esta federação constituída por sete emirados adquire a sua independência em 1971 e cedo toma o caminho do crescimento económico, potenciado pela sua riqueza em recursos naturais (petróleo e gás natural) e total abertura comercial com o resto do mundo. Num intervalo de três décadas, o seu território vê-se dominado pela ânsia de dar a conhecer ao mundo a riqueza e potencial de um país, as suas cidades constroem-se a um ritmo frenético movidas pela ambição dos seus governantes na colocação dos Emirados Árabes no capítulo global. A adopção de linguagem moderna nas suas cidades foi acreditada desde os primórdios da sua governação como um pré-requisito para o seu reconhecimento a nível mundial e também para a captação de investimento externo. Dubai, a cidade mais mediática, também conhecida como a cidade dos superlativos, torna-se num oásis para a captação desse investimento, livre de impostos e propiciando um estilo de vida familiar ao imigrante/turista ocidental, tolerando os seus vícios. Abu-Dhabi, a capital, afundada em recursos petrolíferos, tem um desenvolvimento mais contido numa primeira fase, juntando-se recentemente ao Dubai na megalomania projectual e abertura comercial. Fazem-se hoje sentir as repercussões a nível social e ecológico de um ritmo de crescimento urbano exponencial baseado na adopção de linguagens arquitectónicas e urbanísticas alienadas do que é a realidade social e climática do país. Estratégias urbanas isentas de criticismo e mega-projectos com entrada garantida no livro do Guiness captaram a atenção do mundo, mas foram também os mesmos (e a estratégia política subjacente a eles) que contribuíram para o clima de segregação social que domina o território dos Emirados Árabes. Seja no campo turístico ou no campo laboral, a economia e desenvolvimento dos Emirados Árabes foi desde sempre alimentada pela sua população imigrante. Hoje em dia, os imigrantes constituem cerca de 80% dos habitantes do país. A grande maioria vem em busca da fortuna sempre por um determinado período de tempo. Os Emirados Árabes adquirem assim um estatuto de país com uma demografia virtual - a população imigrante voltará à sua origem sem olhar para trás ao mínimo sinal de crise. O contexto climático também foi descurado: o modernismo genérico que domina grande parte das cidades do país obriga a um gasto desmesurado de recursos - o excessivo dispêndio energético na refrigeração dos espaços e o extremo consumo de água que diversas estruturas requerem são factores que colocam os Emirados Árabes no topo da lista dos países com a maior pegada ecológica, sendo alvo de diversos alertas por parte da comunidade internacional. Recentemente, há um sinal positivo no tratamento de todos estes assuntos pelo governo, reflectido por abordagens ao planeamento que contemplam a generalidade das suas cidades e das suas diversas camadas sociais, de estratégias porventura mais eficientes de diversificação da sua economia e de incursões sérias na utilização das energias renováveis.Both architectural and urban practices in some Arab countries have been revealing an exponential growing way and also a degree of wonder that no one can disregard. Among all nations in the Arab League, a country emerge from its great achievements, especially in those fields - the United Arab Emirates. With an oil sustained economy and ruled by a neutrality stance facing all conflicts that happen in its neighborhood, this 7 emirates federation reclaims its independence in 1971 and soon takes the economic growing path, supported by its natural resources wealth (oil and natural gas) and total openness to the rest of the world. In a timescale of three decades, its territory sees itself dominated by the desire to show the world its wealth and potential, its cities build themselves at a frenetic pace, moved by the ambition of its governors in placing the Emirates on the global scene. The adoption of the modern language in their cities was believed since its ruling origins as a requirement for its worldwide recognition and so for the external investment catching. Dubai, the most mediatic city, also known as a superlative city, becomes an oasis for the catching of that kind of investment, tax free and providing a familiar lifestyle to the occidental expatriate/tourist, tolerating his vices. Abu-Dhabi, the oil soaked capital, has a more contained development at a first stage, only recently joining Dubai in the mega development and commercial openness phase. Today, the social and ecologic echoes of an exponential urban growth pace based on the adoption of architectural and urban languages alienated from the social and climatic country's reality are being felt. Non criticized urban strategies and Guinness Book mega developments captivated world attention, but were also them (and their subjacent strategy) that contributed for the social segregation atmosphere that dominates the entire country's territory. Both in the labor or touristic field, the United Arab Emirates economy and development was since its origins supported by the expatriate population sector. Nowadays, the expatriates constitute somewhat 80% of total country's population. The greater part comes in search for some wealth, staying always for a certain period of time. Likewise, the Emirates acquire a virtual demography condition - expatriate population will leave without looking behind at first sign of trouble. The climatic context was also neglected, the generic modernism that rules great parts of these cities forces an unmeasured waste of resources - the excessive energetic spend on cooling spaces and the extreme water consumption that some structures require are components that place the Emirates on the top of the list of countries with the biggest ecological footprint, which leads to some alerts and reprehensions by the international community. Recently, there's a positive sign on engaging all those issues by the government, shown by planning approaching that includes the city's whole and their different social layers, by probably more efficient economic diversification strategies and by serious incursions in the use of renewable energies

Experience of a predictive adaptive controller on pilot and industrial plants with transport phenomena

The existing experience on using MUSMAR, a predictive adaptive controller, on industrial and large scale pilot plants with transport phenomena is discussed. The processes to control have been selected because their dynamics depends not only on time, but also on space, being therefore described by partial differential equations, and implying increase difficulties for the controller. Case studies on an industrial boiler, an arc-welding machine, a distributed collector solar field and a water distribution canal are used to illustrate the main difficulties and the corresponding solutions when using MUSMAR. These include plant model uncertainty and start-up adaptation transients, large and uncertain plant i/o transport delay, existence of un-modelled dynamics, closed-loop response shaping and constraints. The emphasis of the presentation is on the practical impact of the theoretical properties of the MUSMAR algorithm and on their illustration by means of actual experiments on the real processes mentioned above

Stochastic maintenance models for ceramic claddings

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the CERIS Research Institute, IST, University of Lisbon and the FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology), through the projects SLPforBMS (PTDC/ECM‐COM/5772/2014) and Best Maintenance-Lower Risks (PTDC/ECI-CON/29286/2017).Maintenance decision-making involves a series of multiple objectives, some of them contradictory. Usually, stakeholders intend to find the optimal maintenance strategy, to minimize the economic burden, while simultaneously maximizing the buildings’ performance. In this study, a condition-based maintenance model, based on Petri nets, is proposed to evaluate the consequences of alternative maintenance strategies to maintain and improve the performance of ceramic claddings. This maintenance model is a full life-cycle model that integrates the stochastic assessment of the degradation condition of the claddings, and also inspections, maintenance and renewal processes. Three maintenance strategies are considered: (i) major intervention only; (ii) combination of minor and major interventions; and (iii) combination of cleaning operations, minor and major interventions. The uncertainties associated with the degradation process, as well as with the definition of the effects of maintenance actions are considered by modelling the transitions times in Petri nets as random variables. Considering the complexity of Petri nets, the statistical descriptors of the performance of the assets (e.g., mean condition, probability of applying maintenance) were computed using Monte Carlo simulation. The impact of the different maintenance strategies in the claddings’ service life is discussed, comparing the different alternatives also from an economic point of view.publishersversionpublishe

Classificação como Conjunto de Interesse Público (CIP) dos Vestígios Arqueológicos de Lourosa

O presente projeto tem como principal objetivo a Classificação como Conjunto de Interesse Público (CIP) dos Vestígios Arqueológicos de Lourosa, associando ao estudo o potencial turístico que advém da ligação aos recursos patrimoniais. Outros objetivos: A Criação de um Centro Interpretativo da Cultura Judaica e o Reconhecimento e Notoriedade Internacional. O Turismo Cultural e Religioso, considerado como um produto emergente e inovador e uma das apostas do Plano Estratégico Nacional do Turismo (PENT) 2013/2015 continua a ser um recurso turístico do projeto Turismo 2020. A presença judaica em Portugal é tida pela comunidade científica como muito significativa e o seu valor patrimonial muito relevante. Constituem aspetos deste património histórico-cultural: as comunas e as judiarias, as sinagogas e os armários sagrados, as inscrições e as marcas de simbologia judaica e cristã-nova, as tradições e os costumes. A confluência entre a cultura, a religião e o turismo dá origem ao denominado Turismo Cultural e Religioso. A Organização Mundial do Turismo, identifica o turismo cultural como sendo: O movimento de pessoas essencialmente por motivos culturais, incluindo visitas de grupo, visitas culturais, viagens a festivais, visitas a sítios históricos e monumentos, folclore e peregrinação (OMT, 1985, citado por McKercher e du Cros, 2002). O turismo cultural tem sido considerado a área de maior crescimento no turismo global. O turismo religioso tem igualmente uma relação forte com o património existente sendo que, o principal objetivo é a participação em rituais de culto. Assim sendo, o turismo é uma atividade multifacetada que apresenta uma forte ligação com o património material e imaterial existente contribuindo desta forma, para o desenvolvimento económico e social de uma determinada região.ABSTRACT: The following project has as its main goal the classification as Group of Public Interest (Conjunto de Interesse Público, CIP) of the “Archaeological Traces of Lourosa”, linking to the project the touristic potential which comes from the connection to the heritage resources. Other objectives: recognition and public notoriety and the creation of an interpretative centre of the Jewish Culture. Religious and Cultural Tourism, considered as an emerging and innovating product and one of the bets by the National Strategic Tourism Plan (Plano Estratégico Nacional do Turismo, PENT) 2013/2015, still is a touristic resource of the project “Turismo 2020”. The Jewish presence in Portugal it’s known by the scientific community as very significant and it’s heritage value very relevant. This historic-cultural heritage is formed by: communes and Jewish quarters, synagogues and sacred closets, inscriptions and the brands of Jewish symbolism and New Christian, the traditions and the habitus. The confluence between culture, religion and tourism gives origin to the Religious and Cultural Tourism. The World Tourism Organization identifies cultural tourism as the movement of people moved by cultural purposes, including group visits, cultural visits, travelling to festivals, visits to historic places and monuments, folklore and pilgrimages (UNWTO, 1985, quoted by McKercher e du Cros, 2002). Cultural Tourism has been considered the area of biggest growth in global tourism. Religious Tourism has an equal strong relation with the existent heritage provided that its main objective is the participation in worship rituals. Therefore, Tourism is a multifaceted activity which presents a strong connection with the existent tangible and intangible heritage, contributing to an economic and social development of this region

Obstrução nasal num recém-nascido

Dacryocystocele is an uncommon congenital disease affecting less than 1% of newborns. Herein is presented the case of a female newborn with respiratory distress with onset in the first hours of life and worsening during breastfeeding. Resistance to endoscope progression due to narrowing of both patent nasal cavities was noticed during flexible nasal endoscopy, and computed tomography revealed an extremely rare case of bilateral dacryocystocele. A conservative approach was chosen, with surveillance in the Intensive Care Unit. Although most dacryocystocele cases resolve spontaneously in the first year of life, recognition of this rare condition (particularly in Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology clinical practice) is crucial to prevent complications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Structural and optical characterization of mechanochemically synthesized CuSbS2 compounds

ABSTRACT: One of the areas of research on materials for thin-film solar cells focuses on replacing In and Ga with more earth-abundant elements. In that respect, chalcostibite (CuSbS2) is being considered as a promising environmentally friendly and cost-effective photovoltaic absorber material. In the present work, single CuSbS2 phase was synthesized directly by a short-duration (2 h) mechanochemical-synthesis step starting from mixtures of elemental powders. X-ray diffraction analysis of the synthesized CuSbS2 powders revealed a good agreement with the orthorhombic chalcostibite phase, space group Pnma, and a crystallite size of 26 nm. Particle-size characterization revealed a multimodal distribution with a median diameter ranging from of 2.93 mu m to 3.10 mu m. The thermal stability of the synthesized CuSbS2 powders was evaluated by thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis. No phase change was observed by heat-treating the mechanochemically synthesized powders at 350 degrees C for 24 h. By UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy the optical band gap was determined to be 1.41 eV, suggesting that the mechanochemically synthesized CuSbS2 can be considered suitable to be used as absorber materials. Overall, the results show that the mechanochemical process is a viable route for the synthesis of materials for photovoltaic applications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Structural and Optical Characterization of Mechanochemically Synthesized CuSbS2† [Abstract]

ABSTRACT: The present work describes experimental studies related to the characterization of CuSbS2 directly synthesized after 2 h of mechanochemical synthesis (MCS) at 340 rpm, starting from mixtures of elemental powders. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy were carried out to analyze the crystal structure, degree of crystallinity, crystallite size and optical properties of the mechanochemically synthesized CuSbS2 powders. Rietveld refinement was carried out using Diffrac. TOPAS (Bruker AXS). Thermal stability of the synthesized materials was evaluated by the vacuum thermal heat treatment of the mechanochemically synthesized CuSbS2 powders at 350 °C for 24 h. Furthermore, the CuSbS2 powders were also analyzed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), laser diffraction, and differential thermal analysis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Complicações orbitárias de sinusite aguda em Pediatria: experiência de oito anos

Objectives: Acute sinusitis accounts for up to 82% of orbital infection cases. Infection spreads very quickly, especially through the ethmoid sinus, and orbital complications may arise even under antibiotic therapy. The aim of this study was to describe an 8-year hospital experience with these children. Methods: All cases of acute sinusitis with orbital complications admitted to the Department of Otorhinolaryngology of Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra between 2010 and 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Sixty-four patients met the inclusion criteria, with a mean age of 9 ± 4.7 years. Male:female ratio was 1.67:1. Most subjects were admitted in the winter period (57.8%), with 2.9 ± 2.5 days of clinical evolution. The mean Lund Mackay score was 10.6 ± 4.9, with maxillary and ethmoid being the most prevalent involved sinuses (96.4% and 94.6%, respectively), and was inversely correlated with age (p<0.05). Preseptal cellulitis was the most common complication (56.3%). Abscesses were identified in 18.7% of patients, but only four (6.25%) required surgery. Seven cases (10.9%) recurred shortly after hospital discharge and required prolonged antibiotic course. All patients recovered well, without further complications. Conclusion: Results showed that orbital complications of sinusitis respond well to high doses of endovenous antibiotherapy and patients tend to recover without local comorbidities. Close monitoring of these patients during the first months after hospital discharge is crucial to prevent early relapse.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ensino inclusivo para deficientes visuais : guia do professor

projecto SAVI - http://www.isoc.siu.no/isocii.nsf/projectlist/114349Este guia dirige-se aos professores de qualquer grau e área de ensino que, segundo a lógica própria do ensino inclusivo, a qualquer momento se podem confrontar com alunos deficientes visuais. Como garantir a máxima acessibilidade das suas aulas a alunos cegos ou de baixa visão?programa europeu Sócrates/Grundtvi