Aplicação de análise térmica (DSC) na identificação e caracterização de materiais têxteis

A identificação de fibras é uma necessidade constante quer a nível de investigação quer industrial e é feita através de um conjunto de ensaios que implicam grande consumo de tempo e recursos e que incluem tais como a observação microscópica, comportamento ao calor e à chama, ponto de fusão, solubilidade, testes de coloração, índice de refração e massa volúmica. O presente trabalho pretende analisar a utilização da calorimetria diferencial de varrimento (DSC) na identificação e caracterização de fibras têxteis. As características dos materiais que podem ser identificadas usando análises térmicas, incluem a temperatura de transição vítrea; cristalinidade; temperatura de fusão; temperatura de cristalização a frio; processos térmicos associados à libertação de água e degradação térmica [1,2,3]. Neste trabalho, serão apresentados vários casos práticos, sobre a aplicação desta técnica analítica nas fibras naturais e sintéticas. Um dos estudos realizados refere-se à identificação de fibras naturais, como o algodão e sintéticas, como a poliamida. É também descrita a caracterização de polímeros modificados, em que um dos exemplos se refere à caracterização do poli (álcool de vinilo) (PVA) modificado por indução fotoquímica na presença de um iniciador (Fig 1).This work is also funded by FEDER funds through the Competivity Factors Operational Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-00713

Influence of umbrella pine (Pinus pinea L.) stand type and tree characteristics on cone production

Most umbrella pine (Pinus pinea L.) stands are managed as agroforestry systems, whose main production is fruit, due to the edible and highly nutritious kernels, and are frequently associated to natural or seeded pastures and grazing. The stands have low density, in order to enhance crown growth and fruit production. Nevertheless, cone production, both with regard to number and weight, varies greatly between stands, trees and years. In this study were selected three agroforestry systems, representative of umbrella pine stands whose main production is fruit, and one stand representative of the timber production system, where fruit is the secondary production. It was evaluated the variability in cone production as a function of the tree’s diameter at breast height and crown diameter and the individual tree’s competition status. The results indicate that stands managed in agroforestry systems with lower competition and individuals with larger diameter at breast height and crown diameter tend to produce more and heavier cones per tree. The first two principal components of the principal component analysis explain 84 % of the variance in cone production, trees’ dimensions and competition index. Tree competition status has a negative impact on production per tree

Project risk management in an automotive company

The main purpose of this research project was to analyse the project risk management practices in an automotive company, in order to recommend appropriate improvements. Design/methodology/approach - The research methodology chosen to conduct the study was case study, since the research was carried out in a multinational company in the automotive industry, and data was collected through observation, document analysis and a questionnaire. Findings - Although the company has defined how to approach project risk management, it was found out that the reality experienced does not reflect what is proposed by the major references. The proposal for an approach to risk management, process by process, was well received and appreciated by the project team. Research limitations/implications - Due to the size of company, and also in some cases due to confidentiality reasons, it was not possible to obtain all the necessary data for a more accurate analysis. Additionally, due to the work routine, communication with colleagues was rarely immediate or fluid. It is also important to highlight the fact that project risk management is not an established practice within the organization. Originality/value - Risk management practices as other project management practices are context dependent and should be adapted to the situation. Other companies working with a similar context can benefit from this study and adopt similar procedures to improve their risk management practices.(undefined

Complex Predicates annotation in a corpus of Portuguese

We present an annotation scheme for the annotation of complex predicates, understood as constructions with more than one lexical unit, each contributing part of the information normally associated with a single predicate. We discuss our annotation guidelines of four types of complex predicates, and the treatment of several difficult cases, related to ambiguity, overlap and coordination. We then discuss the process of marking up the Portuguese CINTIL corpus of 1M tokens (written and spoken) with a new layer of information regarding complex predicates. We also present the outcomes of the annotation work and statistics on the types of CPs that we found in the corpus.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Trajectórias de vida em adultos pouco escolarizados

O objectivo desta investigação é analisar as trajectórias de carreira de adultos pouco escolarizados em processo de Reconhecimento, Validação e Certificação de Competências (RVCC), prosseguindo-se na linha de investigação sobre a educação e o desenvolvimento da carreira na vida adulta. Conceptualmente, o estudo baseia-se na teoria das transições de vida de Nancy Schlossberg (1977, 1995) e do desenvolvimento da carreira de Donald Super e Hall (1957). Foi utilizado o método da análise de conteúdo às respostas dadas à ficha “O meu trajecto de vida” por um grupo de adultos activos em processo RVCC (N=20, 55% homens; M=38 anos; 85% com o 2º ciclo e 15% com o 1º ciclo) na zona Norte de Portugal. A trajectória de carreira dos adultos estudados caracteriza-se por um abandono precoce dos estudos e sucessivas transições de emprego. Foram identificadas diferentes categorias de motivos de satisfação e de insatisfação com a escola e a vida escolar (as pessoas, o processo de aprendizagem académica, a transição de vida e os ambientes físico/relacionais), bem como de satisfação (valores profissionais, competências e aptidões, interesses, condições físicas materiais e sociais e pessoas) e de insatisfação (acontecimentos críticos, valores profissionais, condições físicas relacionais e variedade/mudanças constantes) com a vida profissional. Foram ainda identificados como categorias de motivos principais de abandono precoce dos estudos, as transição de vida, motivos familiares, o insucesso escolar e o comportamento. Deste estudo, retiram-se implicações para a intervenção psicoeducacional e de carreira junto com adultos pouco escolarizados e que evidenciam necessidades específicas de desenvolvimento da carreira.The aim of this research is to analyse the career paths of adults who left school at an early age and are now attending a process of skills recognition, validation and accreditation (RVAS). From the conceptual point of view, this study is supported by Nancy Schlossberg’s (1977, 1995) theory of life transitions and Donald Super and Hal l(1957) career development approaches. Content analysis of the answers given to schedule “My life path” from a group of adult workers attending a RVAS process (N=20, 55% men and 45 % women; M=38 years old; 85% with 6 years of elementary school completed, and 15% with 4years of elementary school completed) in the Northern region of Portugal. The career path from the studied adults is characterised by an early school abandon and successive job changes. There have been identified four different categories of reasons for their school satisfaction or dissatisfaction (the people, the academic learning process, life transitions, and physical environment/relational contexts) In addition, there have also been identified categories of satisfaction (professional values, skills and abilities, interests, material and social physical conditions and people) and of dissatisfaction (critical events, professional values, physical relational conditions and frequent changes), as far as the professional life is concerned. There have also been identified main reasons for school early abandon, namely: life transition, family issues, failure at school and behaviour problems. The results of this study will contribute to the development of psychological and educational interventions to the population of adult workers who left school at an early age and evidence specific needs of career development

Estudo das motivações para o voluntariado numa amostra de voluntários hospitalares em contexto oncológico: Relação com bem-estar psicológico e qualidade de vida

Objetivo: Tendo em conta o crescente número de indivíduos que se propõem a realizar actividades de voluntariado, é cada vez mais pertinente perceber quem são estas pessoas e o que as motiva. Assim, o presente estudo pretende: (1) caracterizar uma amostra de voluntários hospitalares em contexto oncológico, relativamente a variáveis sócio demográficas, variáveis específicas do voluntariado hospitalar e motivações para o voluntariado, e (2) analisar a relação entre as motivações para o voluntariado e indicadores de bem-estar psicológico e de qualidade de vida. Método: A amostra é constituída por 53 voluntários hospitalares da Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro – Núcleo Regional do Centro a realizarem voluntariado no Instituto Português de Oncologia Francisco Gentil de Coimbra. Os instrumentos de avaliação utilizados incluíram um questionário sócio demográfico e de caracterização do voluntariado, o Inventário de Motivações para o Voluntariado (IMV; Gonçalves, Monteiro, & Pereira, 2011), a Escala de Medida de Manifestação de Bem-Estar Psicológico (EMMBEP; Monteiro, Tavares, & Pereira, 2006) e o WHO Quality of Life-Bref (WHOQOF-BREF; Vaz Serra et al., 2006). Resultados: De entre os resultados obtidos destaca-se que as funções motivacionais mais valorizadas são as funções “valores”, “experiência” e “crescimento/auto-estima”. Adicionalmente, salienta-se a existência de uma associação positiva entre as funções “valores”, “experiência” e “crescimento/auto-estima” e subescalas de bem-estar psicológico e bem-estar total; e uma associação negativa entre a função “protectora” e os domínios psicológicos e ambiente da qualidade de vida. Conclusão: As interpretações dos resultados bem como as suas implicações são discutidas à luz de literatura relevante. ------ ABSTRACT ------ Aim: Taking into account the increasing number of people who carry out voluntary activities, it becomes relevant to understand who these people are and what motivates them. Therefore, the present study aims at: (1) characterizing a sample of hospital volunteers within an oncologic context regarding socio-demographic variables, specific variables of a hospital volunteer and motivations for volunteering; and (2) analyzing the relation between motivations for volunteering, and indicators of psychological well-being and quality of life. Method: The sample is composed by 53 hospital volunteers, from Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro – Núcleo Regional do Centro, who work at the Instituto Português de Oncologia Francisco Gentil de Coimbra. The assessment tools included a socio-demographic and volunteering characterization questionnaire, the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI; Portuguese version: Gonçalves, Monteiro, & Pereira, 2011), the Psychological Well-Being Manifestation Measure Scale (PWBMMS; Portuguese version: Monteiro, Tavares, & Pereira, 2006), and the WHO Quality of Life-Bref (WHOQOF-BREF; Portuguese version: Vaz Serra et al., 2006). Results: From the results obtained, we highlight that the most valued motivational functions are “values”, “experience”, and “enhancement”. Additionally, there was a positive association between the “values”, “experience”, “enhancement” functions, and the psychological well-being subscales and global well-being; and a negative association between the “protective” function and psychological and environment domains of quality of life. Conclusion: Interpretations of the results as well as their implications are discussed in the light of relevant literature

Predicados complexos numa perspetiva comparativa

Neste capítulo apresentam-se aspetos sintático-semânticos caracterizadores dos predicados complexos, entendidos como sequências de dois (ou mais) verbos que participam numa relação de complementação infinitiva e que, em determinados contextos, formam uma unidade sintático-semântica. Numa perspetiva comparativa, com dados de outras línguas e de diferentes variedades de português, são identificadas as características gerais definidoras de predicados complexos (verbais) em português europeu e distinguem-se duas construções, designadas por reestruturação e fazer-Infinitivo. Para cada uma destas construções, são apresentadas propriedades diferenciadoras e são identificados elementos dos diferentes grupos de verbos que podem ocorrer em predicados complexos.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Opioid maintenance treatment in subjects with at least 50 years

O crescente envelhecimento da população traz novos desafios, como o envelhecimento da população com Comportamentos Aditivos e Dependências. Este grupo apresenta uma enorme vulnerabilidade, características específicas e tem estado a au- mentar, com previsões desse aumento pelo menos até 2020. Apesar disso, o desconhecimento do fenómeno é grande e são necessários mais estudos. O principal objetivo do presente tra- balho é caracterizar os utentes ativos do Centro de Respostas Integradas de Aveiro, com 50 anos ou mais, do ponto de vista clínico, comparando-os consoante o programa de tratamento de manutenção opióide em que se inserem e com a popu- lação normal. Dos 102 utentes ativos, desta faixa etária, 71 reuniam as condições necessárias para participar no estudo e 42 realizaram a avaliação psicológica. A bateria de avalia- ção consistiu nos seguintes instrumentos: BSI, MOCA, IAFAI, GDS e WHOQOL-Bref e a análise de dados foi realizada atra- vés do SPSS – Versão 20. Foram encontradas diferenças sig- nificativas entre os dois programas de tratamento no MOCA, no WHOQOL-Bref (Domínio 2 e 4) e no IAFAI (Incapacidade Emocional). Em todos esses casos o Programa de Manutenção com Metadona obteve piores resultados clínicos que o Programa de Manutenção com Buprenorfina. A amostra global diferiu significativamente da população normal no WHOQOL-Bref (Domínio geral), obtendo piores resultados de qualidade de vida; e em alguns domínios do BSI, obtendo melhores resul- tados de sintomatologia psicológica. Apesar das diferenças encontradas, a amostra encontra-se melhor do que seria de esperar face ao contexto de vida em que se insere.The increase of the elderly population brings new challenges such as an ageing population with Addiction Behaviours and Dependencies. This group has a huge vulnerability, specific traits and has been increasing, what is expected to continue until at least 2020. However, the ignorance of this phenomenon is huge and more studies are required. The goal of this work is to char- acterize the active users of the Centro de Respostas Integradas de Aveiro, aged 50 or more, from a clinical point of view, com- paring them according their opioid maintenance treatment program and with the normal population. Of the 102 active users, in this age group, 71 meet the necessary conditions for participating in the study and 42 made psychological evalua- tion. The test battery consisted of the following instruments: BSI, MOCA, IAFAI, GDS and WHOQOL-Bref and data analy- sis was performed using the SPSS - Version 20. Significant dif- ferences were found between the two treatment programs at MOCA, WHOQOL-Bref (domain 2 and 4) and IAFAI (Emotional Disability). In all these cases the Methadone Maintenance Program got worse clinical outcomes than Maintenance Program with Buprenorphine. The aggregate sample differed signif- icantly from the normal population in the WHOQOL-Bref (general area), getting worse results of quality of life; and in some areas of the BSI, obtaining better results of psychologi- cal symptomatology. Despite those differences, the sample is better than one would expect considering the context of life in which it belongs

Pinus pinea (L.) nut and kernel productivity in relation to cone, tree and stand characteristics

Pinus pinea stands have been identified as one of the target species for agroforestry systems in Europe. Its fruit yield is of importance to the local development, especially in the Mediterranean basin, due to its highly nutritional kernels and its economic value. The objectives of this study were to analyze the relation between pine nut and kernel weight and its efficiencies in relation to cone and tree traits for different stand structures. The statistical analysis was carried out with correlation, multiple correlation analysis, hurdle-gamma regression, principal component and cluster analysis, with a dataset of about 3300 cones collected in four plots and 3 years. The results indicate that pine nut and kernel and its efficiencies depend on stand structure, year and tree characteristics. The principal component analysis and the cluster analysis enabled the identification of four groups of trees related to the pine nut and kernel efficiencies. The higher efficiencies per tree are attained in stands managed for fruit production, increasing with the decrease of the density

Study on project management in Portugal within the scope of the Portuguese Project Management Observatory

The Portuguese Project Management Observatory (PPMO), an initiative of the Portuguese Association of Project Management (APOGEP), is being developed by the University of Minho in partnership with other 17 Higher Education institutions. The main objectives of this research were to understand the tools and techniques most and least used by organizations, the use of agile methodologies, the maturity of each Project Management area, and success dimensions. The method selected for this study was a survey applied through an online questionnaire directed to Portuguese organizations. The results show that the most used Tools and Techniques are Kick-off Meeting, Progress Meetings, Project Work Description, Gantt Chart, and Activity List; and the least used are Monte Carlo Analysis, Decision Tree, Project Management Software for Simulation, Conferences for Bidding, and Parametric Estimation. Statistically significant differences were found between the use of various Tools and Techniques and factors such as gender, age, current position, education level, and activity sector. Agile methodologies are used in a large part of the respondents' organizations, however, no correlation was identified between the use of agile methodologies and the accomplishment of scope, time and cost of projects. The process identified as having the highest maturity is Definition of Activities in the Project Schedule Management area, followed by Project Execution in the Project Integration Management area, and the Schedule Development in the Project Schedule Management area. Customer Satisfaction is the KPI most used.- (undefined