Dashboard para apoio à decisão na análise de tráfego e ambiente de uma cidade inteligente

Mestrado em Engenharia InformáticaCities are continuously growing in population, vehicles, infrastructures and intelligence. Using and deploying smart technologies in the cities infrastructure can improve the multiple existing areas of a city, such as mobility by improving the road network, infrastructure by improving the urban planning and population by contributing with better services. Porto city has an in-place infrastructure of xed and moving sensors in more than 400 buses and roadside units, with both GPS and mobility sensors in moving elements, and with environmental sensors in xed units. This infrastructure can provide valuable data that can extract information to better understand the city and, eventually, support actions to improve the city mobility, urban planning, and environment. This work has the objective of using the information generated by the sensors placed in the buses of Porto, and using it to analyze the road tra c information based on the mobility patterns of the buses. The data from the environmental sensors deployed in Porto is also provided and used to analyze the air quality of the city and its in uence by the tra c. The developed system provides a full stack integration of the information into a city dashboard that displays and correlates the data generated from the buses movement and the environment from the xed sensors, allowing di erent visualizations over the road tra c and the environment in the city, and decisions over the current status of the city. A good example is the relation of bus speed variation with possible anomalies on the road or tra c jams. Visualizing such information with a superior level of detail on the road tra c, more anomalies can be found, adding more value to a city manager when taking urban planning decisions to improve the city mobility in a smart way.As cidades tem estado continuamente a crescer tanto em populaçao, como em veiculos, infra-estruturas e inteligencia. Ao implementar e usar tecnologias inteligentes na infra-estrutura das cidades, e possivel melhorar as diversas areas de uma cidade, como a mobilidade ao melhorar a infra-estrutura das estradas, as infra-estruturas ao melhorar o planeamento urbano e a populaçao ao disponibilizar melhores serviços. A cidade do Porto tem neste momento uma infra-estrutura de sensores fixos e moveis em mais de 400 autocarros, e unidades de comunicação na estrada, com GPS e sensores de mobilidade nos elementos moveis, e com sensores ambientais nas unidades fixas. Esta infra-estrutura proporciona dados valiosos baseados nos padrões de mobilidade dos autocarros. Os dados dos sensores ambientais são também disponibilizados e usados para analisar a qualidade do ar da cidade e a sua influencia perante o trafego de veículos. O sistema desenvolvido fornece uma integração completa da informação num dashboard da cidade que mostra e correlaciona os dados gerados pelo movimento dos autocarros e do ambiente a partir dos sensores fixos, permitindo diferentes visualizações do trânsito nas estradas e do ambiente na cidade, e decisões sobre o estado actual da cidade. Um bom exemplo e a relação da variação da velocidade dos autocarros com possíveis anomalias na estrada ou engarrafamentos. Ao visualizar esta informação com um nível de detalhe superior nas anomalias encontradas na estrada, o gestor da cidade pode beneficiar do dashboard quando precisa de tomar decisões relacionadas com o planeamento urbano e assim melhorar de uma maneira inteligente a mobilidade da cidade

Geothermal resources research in a granitic basement - the Braga area case study (NW Portugal)

Geothermal resources are increasingly being considered as a strategic alternative in energy production, especially with the latest geopolitical developments. The densely populated Braga region, in NW Portugal, is endowed with a geostructural setting that enables the existence of several thermal water occurrences, spatially associated with a deep-rooted structure – the Vigo-Régua shear zone, set in a granite context. Given the latest advances in geothermal energy production, it is possible to predict a mid- to long-term implementation of geothermal energy production in the vicinity of that deep rooted structure. Although strongly encouraging, the exploratory geophysical, geochemical and geological data are still insufficient to deliver a definitive frame of the potential energy associated with the estimated reservoirs. Ongoing work combining gravimetric, radiometric and geochemical data will provide a better understanding of the deeply concealed structures.Les ressources géothermiques sont de plus en plus considérées comme une alternative stratégique dans la production d'énergie, en particulier compte tenu du contexte géopolitique récent. La région densément peuplée de Braga, au nord-ouest du Portugal, est située dans un contexte granitique spatialement associé à une structure enracinée - la zone de cisaillement Vigo-Régua. Ce contexte géologique et structural a permis le développement de plusieurs occurrences d'eau thermale. Compte tenu des dernières avancées en matière de production d'énergie géothermique, il est possible de prévoir une mise en œuvre à moyen et long terme de la production d'énergie géothermique à proximité de cette structure profonde. Bien que fortement encourageantes, les données géophysiques, géochimiques et géologiques exploratoires sont encore insuffisantes pour fournir un cadre définitif de l'énergie potentielle associée aux réservoirs estimés. Des travaux en cours combinant des données gravimétriques, radiométriques et géochimiques permettront de mieux comprendre les structures profondément enfouies.Los recursos geotérmicos se consideran cada vez más como una alternativa estratégica en la producción de energía, especialmente con los últimos desarrollos geopolíticos. La región densamente poblada de Braga, en el noroeste de Portugal, está dotada de un entorno estructural que permite la presencia de aguas termales, asociadas espacialmente con una estructura profunda en un contexto granítico: la zona de falla Vigo-Régua. Dados los últimos avances en la producción de energía geotérmica, es posible predecir una implementación a mediano y largo plazo de la producción de energía geotérmica en las cercanías de esa estructura de raíces profundas. Aún cuando los datos geofísicos, geoquímicos y geológicos exploratorios son muy alentadores, son insuficientes para brindar un marco definitivo del potencial geotérmico asociada con los yacimientos. El trabajo en curso que integra datos gravimétricos, radiométricos y geoquímicos proporcionará una mejor comprensión de las estructuras profundas por explorar

HERA - Environmental Risk Assessment of a contaminated estuarine environment: a case study

Sado River estuary is located in the west coast of Portugal. Previous environmental studies identified industrial contamination, non-point anthropogenic sources and contamination coming from the river, all promoting accumulation of polluted sediments with known impacts on the ecological system. Surrounding human populations have intense economic fishery activities. Together with agriculture, estuary fishing products are available to local residents. Food usage previously characterized through ethnographic studies suggests exposure to estuarine products, farming products, and water in daily activities, as potential routes of contamination. It is well established that long term exposure to heavy metals are associated with renal and neurological diseases, most heavy metals are classified as carcinogenic and teratogenic.Instituição Financiadora: FCT; Instituições participantes: IMAR -Instituto do Mar (coord.)e PRÓ-INSA, Associação para a Promoção da Investigação em Saúde, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorg

Bullying escolar: um fenômeno multifacetado

School bullying can involve children in different ways, making them play different roles, among them, victims, bullies and bully-victims. The aim of this study was to describe how bullying occurs in high social vulnerability schools of Florianópolis metropolitan area and the roles played by students in this phenomenon. Overall, 409 children and adolescents from the 3rd to 5th grades and of two public elementary schools aged 8-16 years (X = 11.14) participated in this study. As a tool, the Olweus Questionnaire adapted to the Brazilian population was used. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were applied by the Mann Whitney and Kruskal Wallis tests. As for results, 29.8% of boys and 40.5% of girls reported being victims; 32.3% of boys and 24.6% of girls reported being bullies. Victims were the most willing to help a colleague who is suffering from bullying (X = 1.54; p> 0.001), even if they do not know the victims (X = 1.57; p> 0.004). Bullies are differentiated from the group that does not participate (X = 1.73) and the group of victims (X = 2.34), being those who felt less alone (x = 1.47; p> 0.001). It was concluded that the information obtained in this study is indispensable in the search for alternatives to reduce school bullying. The strengthening of relations between school and students and a better preparation of teachers and school staff are extremely necessary to try to minimize the effects of risk factors to which these children are exposed and consequently violence at school.O bullying escolar pode envolver crianças de diferentes maneiras, fazendo com que essas assumam papéis diferenciados. Dentre estes, têm-se vítimas, agressores e vítimas-agressoras. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever como ocorre o bullying em escolas de alta vulnerabilidade social da Grande Florianópolis e os papéis assumidos pelos alunos nesse fenômeno. Quanto ao método, participaram 409 crianças e adolescentes do terceiro ao quinto ano e da quarta à sexta série do ensino fundamental, de duas escolas públicas municipais, com idades entre 8 e 16 anos (X=11,14). Como instrumento, utilizou-se o Questionário de Olweus adaptado à população brasileira. Para a análise dos dados, empregaram-se a estatística descritiva e estatística inferencial por meio dos testes Mann Whitney e Kruskal Wallis. Quanto aos resultados, 29,8% dos meninos e 40,5% das meninas relataram terem sido vítimas; já 32,3% dos meninos e 24,6% das meninas relataram terem sido agressores. As vítimas foram as que se mostraram mais dispostas a ajudar como podem um colega que esteja sofrendo agressão (X=1,54; p>0,001), mesmo que não o conheçam (X=1,57; p>0,004). Em contrapartida, os agressores se diferenciaram do grupo que não participa (X=1,73) e do grupo das vítimas (X=2,34), sendo aqueles que menos se sentiram sozinhos (X=1,47; p>0,001). Concluiu-se que as informações obtidas neste estudo são indispensáveis na busca de alternativas para redução do bullying escolar. O fortalecimento das relações entre escola e alunos, e um maior preparo dos professores e funcionários são extremamente necessários para tentar minimizar os efeitos dos fatores de risco a que essas crianças estão expostas e consequentemente a violência na escola.CAPES - Proc. nº 0815/14-4CIEC - Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, IE, UMinho (UI 317 da FCT)Projeto Estratégico da FCT: UID/CED/00317/201

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049