Status of Non-Technical Losses of Electricity in Brazil

The electricity demand in Brazil has been growing. Some studies estimate that through 2035 the energy consumption (the power consumption) should increase 78%. Two distinct actions are necessary to meet this growth: the construction of new generating plants and to reduce electrical losses in the country. As the construction of power plants have a high price, coupled with the growth of (current) environmental concern, electric utilities are investing in reducing losses, both technical and non-technical. In this context, this paper aims to present an overview of nontechnical losses in Brazil and to raise a discussion on the reasons that contribute to energy fraud

Using Typical Consumption Profiles to Stablish the Consumption Level for Short Time Periods

The current practices in the consumption metering by electricity utilities is currently largely based on monthly consumption reading. The consumption metering device is always calculating the cumulative consumption. Then, it is possible to calculate the difference between the actual and the previous consumption evaluation in order to estimate the monthly consumption. The power systems planning needs in many aspects to handle consumption data obtained for shorter periods, namely in the Demand Response programs planning. The work presented in this paper is based on the application of typical consumption profiles that are previously defined for a certain power system area. Such profiles are then used in order to estimate the 15 minutes consumption for a certain consumer or consumer type

Prognóstico e resistência à terapêutica no cancro do colo e recto

Tese de mestrado. Biologia (Biologia Molecular Humana). Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2010Introdução: O cancro do cólon e recto (CCR) tem como origem a perturbação do equilíbrio entre proliferação, diferenciação e apoptose. A maioria dos CCR resulta de alterações genéticas em vários genes/vias envolvidos nestes processos celulares, algumas das quais têm sido associadas ao prognóstico e à resposta à terapêutica. Objectivo: Estudar, em diferentes tipos de CCR, a expressão das proteínas p21, caspase 3 e caspase 8, correlacionar com a presença de alterações genéticas nas vias WNT e RAS/RAF, e avaliar a sua relação com a sobrevivência, de modo a contribuir para a identificação de marcadores preditivos de prognóstico e de resposta à terapêutica. Material e métodos: Efectuou-se a análise de expressão das proteínas APC, p21, caspase 3 e caspase 8 por imunohistoquímica em 102 amostras de CCR, estratificadas pela presença de instabilidade de microssatélites (MSI). Foi ainda efectuada a análise mutacional do KRAS e do gene CTNNB1 em algumas amostras de CCR não analisadas num estudo anterior. Os resultados da expressão foram correlacionados com as mutações nos genes APC, CTNNB1,TCF7L2 e KRAS (teste exacto de Fisher) e no final com a sobrevivência dos doentes (teste log rank). Resultados: Verificou-se uma maior expressão de p21, caspase 3 e caspase 8 nos tumores MSI em relação a tumores sem MSI (MSS) (p=0,005; p=0,03 e p=0,01 respectivamente). A relação entre a expressão das caspases 3 e 8 e a MSI parece estar associada, respectivamente, à deficiência de MSH2 (p=0,06) e de MLH1 (p=0,04). No sindroma de Lynch, as mutações nos genes CTNNB1 e TCF7L2 associaram-se à baixa expressão de caspase 3 (p=0,0006 e p=0,007, respectivamente) e mutações no KRAS relacionaram-se com a elevada expressão de caspase 8 (p=0.001). Em doentes com tumores MSI, não submetidos a terapêutica, as mutações no gene TCF7L2, especialmente em conjunto com a elevada expressão de caspase 3, associaram-se a um mau prognóstico (p=0,01). Em tumores MSS, a reduzida expressão de p21 e a expressão aumentada de caspase 3 encontraram-se significativamente associadas a um melhor prognóstico em doentes tratados com 5- fluorouracilo (p=0,009 e p=0,02, respectivamente). Conclusão: Este estudo sugere que a expressão de p21 e de caspase 3, assim como as mutações no TCF7L2, poderão, dependendo da MSI ou do tratamento com 5-fluorouracilo, ser marcadores preditivos de prognóstico. Será importante estender este estudo a um maior número de doentes de modo a confirmar as associações observadas.Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) results from several disturbs in the balance between proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The majority of CRC originates from genetic alterations in several genes/pathways involved in these cellular processes, some of which have been associated to prognosis and response to therapy. Aims: To study, in different types of CRC, the p21, caspase 3 and caspase 8 expression and to correlate both with genetic alterations in WNT and RAS/RAF pathways and with survival, in order to identify predictive markers of prognosis and of therapeutic response. Material and methods: The expression of APC, p21, caspase 3 and caspase 8 proteins were evaluated by immunohistochemistry in 102 CRC samples, stratified by the microsatellite instability (MSI) status. Mutation analysis of KRAS and CTNNB1 was also performed in a few samples not analyzed in a previous study. The results of the expression analysis were correlated with APC, CTNNB1, TCF7L2 and KRAS mutations (Fisher’s exact test) and with patient survival (log rank test). Results: The expression of p21, caspase 3, and caspase 8 was higher in MSI than in tumors without MSI (MSS) (p=0.005, p=0.03 and p=0.01, respectively). However, the association of caspase 3 and 8 expression to MSI appears to be related to MSH2 (p=0.06) and to MLH1 deficiency (p=0.04), respectively. In Lynch syndrome, CTNNB1 and TCF7L2 mutations correlated with low expression of caspase 3 (p=0.0006 and p=0.007, respectively), whereas KRAS mutations were associated with high caspase 8 expression (p=0.001). TCF7L2 mutations, specially in association with high caspase 3 expression, were associated to worse survival (p=0.01) in patients with MSI CRC not treated with 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU). In MSS tumors, the reduced expression of p21and the high expression of caspase 3 were significantly associated to a better prognosis in patients treated with 5-FU based regimens (p=0.009 and p=0.02, respectively). Conclusion: This study suggests that the expression of p21, caspase 3 and also TCF7L2 mutations may be predictive markers of prognosis, depending on the MSI status or on the use of 5-FU treatment. It will be important to increase the number of patients in order to confirm the observed associations

Educomunicação e suas áreas de intervenção: Novos paradigmas para o diálogo intercultural

oai:omp.abpeducom.org.br:publicationFormat/1O material aqui divulgado representa, em essência, a contribuição do VII Encontro Brasileiro de Educomunicação ao V Global MIL Week, da UNESCO, ocorrido na ECA/USP, entre 3 e 5 de novembro de 2016. Estamos diante de um conjunto de 104 papers executivos, com uma média de entre 7 e 10 páginas, cada um. Com este rico e abundante material, chegamos ao sétimo e-book publicado pela ABPEducom, em seus seis primeiros anos de existência. A especificidade desta obra é a de trazer as “Áreas de Intervenção” do campo da Educomunicação, colocando-as a serviço de uma meta essencial ao agir educomunicativo: o diálogo intercultural, trabalhado na linha do tema geral do evento internacional: Media and Information Literacy: New Paradigms for Intercultural Dialogue

Bibliotecas para a Vida

É neste sentido que as bibliotecas são para a vida, isto é, cruciais para uma vida compensadora e com significado, para a vida de cidadãos numa sociedade complexa e cada vez mais globalizada, onde a informação e o conhecimento são crescentemente a base da economía e de urna vivância e participação activa nas decisões comuns, ou seja, na política. Estas são algumas das ideias condutoras e estruturantes do conjunto de textos reunidos neste volume, e que constituem o essencial das comunicações apresentadas na Conferência Internacional Comemorativa dos 200 anos da Biblioteca Pública de Évora, que teve lugar nesta cidade de 27 a 29 de Outubro de 2005

PLAYER – a European Project and a Game to Foster Entrepreneurship Education for Young People

Abstract: Entrepreneurship is widely recognized as one of the basic skills to be acquired through a life-long learning. The European Union, under the guidance of the Oslo Agenda, promotes several initiatives to develop entrepreneurship culture in Europe. Education can make a significant contribution to entrepreneurship, encouraging the development of entrepreneurial attitudes and skills in young people. Serious Games are presently recognised as having an important role and potential in education and social networks emerged in the last years as th

PLAYER - a European Project and a Game to Foster Entrepreneurship Education for Young People

Entrepreneurship is widely recognized as one of the basic skills to be acquired through a life-long learning. The European Union, under the guidance of the Oslo Agenda, promotes several initiatives to develop entrepreneurship culture in Europe. Education can make a significant contribution to entrepreneurship, encouraging the development of entrepreneurial attitudes and skills in young people. Serious Games are presently recognised as having an important role and potential in education and social networks emerged in the last years as the platform preferred by many, especially young people, to socialize, play games and even learn. This paper presents the PLAYER project, in which a game was developed and implemented as a Facebook application, to enable learning entrepreneurial skills progressively, by guiding users to develop a business idea in the form of a business plan

PLAYER - a European Project and a Game to Foster Entrepreneurship Education for Young People

Entrepreneurship is widely recognized as one of the basic skills to be acquired through a life-long learning. The European Union, under the guidance of the Oslo Agenda, promotes several initiatives to develop entrepreneurship culture in Europe. Education can make a significant contribution to entrepreneurship, encouraging the development of entrepreneurial attitudes and skills in young people. Serious Games are presently recognised as having an important role and potential in education and social networks emerged in the last years as the platform preferred by many, especially young people, to socialize, play games and even learn. This paper presents the PLAYER project, in which a game was developed and implemented as a Facebook application, to enable learning entrepreneurial skills progressively, by guiding users to develop a business idea in the form of a business plan