Household sustainable consumption: an evaluation of environmental aawareness materials

European Union (EU) has been putting increasing emphasis on sustainable use and management of natural resources, especially since the adoption in 2001 of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy and the Sixth Environment Action Programme. Some objectives and priority areas for action are the achievement of a significant overall reduction in the volumes of waste generated through waste prevention initiatives, better resource exploitation efficiency and a shift towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns. There is wide global recognition that unsustainable patterns of consumption have serious social and environmental impacts. ‘Changing consumption patterns’, as identified by Chapter 4 of Agenda 21, remains a challenging, yet significant component of the drive to achieve sustainable development. Sustainable consumption does not mean about consuming less, it is about consuming differently, consuming efficiently, and having an improved quality of life. It also means sharing between the rich and the poor. The change of these consumption patterns could only be achieved through the use of correct and efficient environmental awareness/education campaigns. The purpose of the study is to conduct a state of the art of environmental awareness materials related with European household sustainable consumption. The search materials were compared and evaluated in terms of: aims; type of materials; target public; applicability and contents. The results of our research demonstrated that internet is a powerful tool and can contribute to the awareness of the general public about these issues. The problem of internet downloaded materials is the lack of their quality evaluation before them as available on the web. Weaknesses were found in terms of technical, scientific quality and their ability for learning-teaching. Some of them are very rudimentary, contributing little to the general public’s awareness. Also their interactivity could be better if taking into account the currently power of web base tools.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cubus: autonomous embodied characters to stimulate creative idea generation in groups of children

Creativity is an ability that is crucial in nowadays societies. It is, therefore, important to develop activities that stimulate creativity at a very young age. It seems, however, that there is a lack of tools to support these activities. In this paper, we introduce Cubus, a tool that uses autonomous synthetic characters to stimulate idea generation in groups of children during a storytelling activity. With Cubus, children can invent a story and use the stop-motion technique to record a movie depicting it. In this paper, we explain Cubus’ system design and architecture and present the evaluation of Cubus’ impact in a creative task. This evaluation investigated idea generation in groups of children during their creative process of storytelling. Results showed that the autonomous behaviors of Cubus’ virtual agents contributed to the generation of more ideas in children, a key dimension of creativity.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Identificação de conflitos na delimitação da Reserva Ecológica Nacional - Caso de estudo : concelho de Nisa

Este estudo tem como objectivo a aplicação de uma metodologia para a delimitação da REN do concelho de Nisa, baseada em Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG) e sua comparação com a REN legalmente aprovada

Protein kinase WNK2 as a tumour suppressor gene in malignant gliomas

Malignant glioblastomas are the most common and lethal adult brain tumours, with patients dying within two years from diagnosis. Little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation and/or development of these tumours, which present a very invasive phenotype within the brain and are genetically heterogeneous and highly resistant to both chemo- and radio-therapies. Recently, the promoter region of the protein kinase WNK2 gene was found to be hypermethylated in 29 of 31 infiltrative gliomas and about 80% of meningiomas. We have previously described that the experimental depletion of WNK2 expression decreases RhoA activity whilst leading to increased Rac1 activity. Because RhoA/Rac1 activities are important for cell migration and glioblastomas are very invasive tumours, we tested the effects of WNK2 on wound-healing assays in glioma cell lines SW1088 and A172. SW1088 cells express endogenous WNK2 and we observed that wound closure was increased upon experimental depletion of endogenous WNK2. In contrast, A172 cells display complete promoter region methylation and WNK2 re-expression was found to decrease migration. Consistently, we observed an increase in Rac1 activity in SW1088 cells upon WNK2 down-regulation, but lower levels of active Rac1 in A172 cells stably expressing WNK2 cDNA when compared with an equivalent cell line stably transfected with the same empty vector. Our studies indicate that loss of WNK2 expression promotes Rac1 activation and may contribute to the highly invasive phenotype that glioblastomas present. We also observed that, in a panel of glioblastoma cell lines, WNK2 promoter methylation correlates with a marked deregulation in Akt, MEK1/2 and ERK1/2 activities, suggesting WNK2 may also be important for tumour cell survival and cell cycle progression.FC

Cutting forces and wear analysis of Si3N4 diamond coated tools in high speed machining

Si3N4 tools were coated with a thin diamond film using a Hot-Filament Chemical Vapour Deposition (HFCVD) reactor, in order to machining a grey cast iron. Wear behaviour of these tools in high speed machining was the main subject of this work. Turning tests were performed with a combination of cutting speeds of 500, 700 and 900 m min−1, and feed rates of 0.1, 0.25 and 0.4 mm rot−1, remaining constant the depth of cut of 1 mm. In order to evaluate the tool behaviour during the turning tests, cutting forces were analyzed being verified a significant increase with feed rate. Diamond film removal occurred for the most severe set of cutting parameters. It was also observed the adhesion of iron and manganese from the workpiece to the tool. Tests were performed on a CNC lathe provided with a 3-axis dynamometer. Results were collected and registered by homemade software. Tool wear analysis was achieved by a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) provided with an X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) system. Surface analysis was performed by a profilometer

A propósito do PIB: do crescimento para a sustentabilidade

Congresso realizado na Universidade de Évora, de 14-6 de abril de 2014O produto interno bruto (PIB) foi considerado uma das grandes invenções do século XX. As críticas que entretanto suscitou já conduziram, mais do que à formulação de complementaridades ou correcções, à proposta da sua abolição liminar. Apesar de se manter central na análise económica e definição de políticas, multiplicam-se as tentativas de afirmação de uma lógica alternativa, com a sustentabilidade como motivação e objectivo. A contestação da pretensa objectividade e auto-suficiência do PIB remete, por um lado, para a relatividade dos valores, desde logo para a designada ideologia do crescimento, e, por outro, para a escala da análise. Trata-se tanto de reconhecer a finitude dos recursos disponíveis, que compromete a ideia do crescimento infinito ou ‘sustentável’, como de convocar uma lógica sistémica que situe a economia, e, por maioria de razões, a finança, dentro da sociedade e esta dentro do ambienteGross domestic product (GDP) was deemed one of the great inventions of the 20th century. The criticisms the measure has since attracted have already led to the formulation of complementary or corrective versions rather than proposing its outright abolition. Despite remaining central to economic analysis and the definition of policies, attempts to affirm an alternative logic have proliferated with sustainability as their core underlying motivation and objective. The challenges to the intended objectivity and self-sufficiency of GDP on the one hand relate to the relativity of its values, from the outset the ideological dimension to growth, and, on the other hand, to the scale of analysis. This involves not only due recognition of the finitude of the resources available, and inherently compromising any idea of unending ‘sustainable’ growth, but also evoking a systemic logic that places the economy and, for an overwhelming number of reasons, finance within the scope of society that, in turn, remains within its own environmental boundaries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Jornalismo de dados: caraterização e fluxos de trabalho

O jornalismo de dados surge nos últimos anos como uma das grandes tendências no jornalismo, a nível mundial. Este artigo tem como objetivo clarificar o que é o jornalismo de dados na atualidade e quais são as práticas a ele associadas. Numa primeira parte deste artigo são apresentadas as raízes do jornalismo de dados, através de uma caraterização baseada em literatura diversa e na análise de exemplos. A segunda parte é focada na análise de modelos de fluxos de trabalho, publicados por vários especialistas, que mostram o processo de trabalho que leva à criação de trabalhos jornalísticos deste tipo.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A new way to produce conformal cooling channels by RPT for moulding blocks of the hybrid moulds

Prémio de melhor artigo com interesse para a indústria.Hybrid moulds are an increasingly considered alternative for prototype series or short production runs. In this solution of injection moulds the moulding elements (blocks or other inserts) are manufactured in alternative metallic materials or in synthetic materials. One of the main issues associated to the use of these alternative materials is their thermal behaviour. For instance, in order to allow uniformity in the cooling of the moulded part, and a significant cooling time reduction, conformal channels are recommended as an efficient solution. The layout of the channels should contour the geometry of the impression, and has to be easily implemented during the production of the moulding blocks. This paper reports on a case study involving the use of conformal cooling channels obtained in wax by 3D-impression. An injection hybrid mould of a simple geometry production was used for testing several possibilities of conformal cooling construction. The discussion of cure parameters of the epoxy-based composite resin that can have influence on the wax thermal properties is presented alongside with recommendations for the use of this rapid tooling technique