Non-destructive characterization of artworks in paper support using spectroscopic techniques

Tese de doutoramento, Física, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2013The work here presented aims at demonstrating the efficacy of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) with portable setups, sometimes complemented by Raman spectroscopy in providing answers for characterization, conservation and authentication issues related with artworks in paper and parchment support. The work begins with a short section regarding the state of the art on the use of portable XRF and Raman spectroscopy in the study of artworks in paper and parchment support. The suitability of the techniques has already been greatly established, however constant improvements from the technological point of view, grant different capabilities. The work is presented as a group of case studies with the intention of providing answers in three major topics: the application of μ-XRF to the study of discolorations in paper documents and drawings, the study of the pigments used in Namban paper folding screens to accomplish their characterization, dating and authentication and the establishment of methodologies for determining/evaluating the thickness of gold leaf used for gilding. In some of these case studies we were approached by conservators who had specific demands and then we pursued similar artworks to improve the corpus of study. The most remarkable aspect of these studies is that all XRF analyses were performed in situ and when there was need for complementary information micro-samples were collected for Raman analysis. This way, the main goals in Cultural Heritage studies were obtained: the artworks were not damaged nor removed from their original location.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, PhD grant SFRH/BD/60778/2009

SEABED MORPHOLOGICAL PREDICTION WITH APPLICATION TO MOBILITY AND BURIAL OF MUNITIONS

Hundreds of sites in littoral and inland waters across the United States have been reported as possibly containing underwater munitions, a safety hazard for the general public. Therefore, it is critical to determine and predict munition location and depth to implement remediation strategies. The mobility of munitions may be influenced by currents, waves, and seafloor slope. Burial depth may be affected by scour, sediment accretion, wave-induced liquefaction, and bedform migration. Here, environmental conditions and morphological evolution are investigated by examining observational data and modeling analyses to better understand the physical processes influencing the burial and mobility of munitions. The environmental models (Delft3D) are validated using observations from field experiments. A coupled Delft3D-object model capable of predicting the mobility and burial of objects on a sandy seafloor is presented. Although the object model limitation considers only cylindrical objects on flat seafloor, ignoring pitch and yaw movements, the coupled Delft3D-object model predictions agree well with observations. In addition, processes such as sediment transport, wave-induced liquefaction, and sand wave migration are examined. The findings show that environmental conditions from Delft3D can be used as a forcing term by other models (e.g., object and wave-induced liquefaction models), which is a valuable tool for predicting the fate of munitions.SERDPCapitao-de-Corveta, Brazilian NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Chaïm Perelman e o combate à retórica da eficácia dos sofistas

El propósito del presente artículo es presentar la Teoría de la Argumentación según Chaïm Perelman, demostrando el contexto histórico de cuando fue creada, así como su aplicación en la actualidad, porque es a través del argumento de que la aplicación de la ley se comunica, siendo la retórica una de las fuentes principales de la Teoría de la Argumentación para buscar resolver las disputas legales.A proposta do presente artigo é apresentar a Teoria da Argumentação segundo Chaïm Perelman, demonstrando o contexto histórico de quando foi criada, bem como a sua aplicação na atualidade, pois é por meio da argumentação que o aplicador do direito se comunica, sendo a retórica uma das principais fontes da teoria da argumentação procurando a solução de litígios

Monitoring the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere in Portugal due to forest fires based on LSA SAF products

Ponencia presentada en: XXXIV Jornadas Científicas de la AME y el XVII Encuentro Hispano Luso de Meteorología celebrado en Teruel, del 29 de febrero al 2 de marzo de 2016

Homegreens: Aquaponics and Education

The Homegreens project aims to develop small freshwater or saltwater aquaponic systems, which can be in-stalled in schools, serving as a pedagogical tool for the apprenticeship of subjects such as biology and sustaina-bility to the juvenile audience. A multidisciplinary team of designers, biologists, and agronomists was responsi-ble for the project’s research. The development and installation of experimental models, for qualitative analy-sis of user interaction, determined the methodology layout. This small-scale aquaponic system consists of two different grow beds, an aquarium with a capacity of 45L, a separating barrier for plants’ roots, a biofilter mesh with an integrated aerator, a valve for sediment cleaning, and two tripods. The involvement and the interaction with the Homegreens’ aquaponic system provides a group learning oppor-tunity, which contributes to environmental literacy in children with relevant values and experiences.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Metodologias de ensino e avaliação em sequências didáticas produzidas por professores de ciências

Neste trabalho buscamos identificar quais as metodologias de ensino e de avaliação previstas por professores de Ciências em sequências didáticas por eles elaboradas. A pesquisa, de natureza semi-qualitativa, foi desenvolvida em duas etapas principais de avaliação e análise de cinco sequências didáticas previamente selecionadas. Buscou-se inferir sobre as potencialidades das atividades previstas em proporcionar aos alunos condições de aprendizagem satisfatórias e identificar a forma como a avaliação da aprendizagem era apresentada em meio às situações propostas, e se essa avaliação apresentava indicadores de como os professores realizariam as intervenções necessárias

Fact sheet: Automatic Self-Reported Personality Recognition Track

We propose an informed baseline to help disentangle the various contextual factors of influence in this type of case studies. For this purpose, we analysed the correlation between the given metadata and the self-assigned personality trait scores and developed a model based solely on this information. Further, we compared the performance of this informed baseline with models based on state-of-the-art visual, linguistic and audio features. For the present dataset, a model trained solely on simple metadata features (age, gender and number of sessions) proved to have superior or similar performance when compared with simple audio, linguistic or visual features-based systems

How FinTechs and their partnerships with financial institutions are closing the banking gap : challenges and opportunities faced towards greater financial inclusion

FinTechs have been on the forefront of the financial services industry’s reshape. There is a sound potential impact of such technologies worldwide, and more specifically among the 1.7 billion adults who constitute the unbanked, who lack affordable, useful and sustainable access to financial services and products. Financial inclusion has been on key players’ agendas for the past few years, considered to be key in reducing poverty and boosting prosperity worldwide. While financial institutions have long enjoyed a centrality in customers’ financial lives, and FinTechs threaten it by replacing parts of their value chains with innovative solutions, this competitive mindset becomes a cooperative one when developing economies are the target, where accessing unbanked populations requires the cooperation between both players, in order to reach a profitable and effective solution that brings together the know-how and trust afforded by banks and the innovative skills brought by FinTechs. In this work, we have analyzed how partnerships have been made possible and what constitute their challenges, as despite allowing to overcome several constraints that impeded the unbanked to be served, finding the right partner, efficiently working together and effectively scaling innovation, is not always straightforward. Many services provided by partnerships have not yet been through a complete financial cycle, and their benefits to financial inclusion take time to flourish. But one can already conclude that if both players are able to partner successfully, overcoming culture, working methods and ambition’s differences, financial inclusion will continue to be targeted and one day, hopefully, fully addressed

Marine fish assemblage typologies for the portuguese coast in the context of the European Marine Strategy Directives

Tese de mestrado em Ecologia e Gestão Ambiental, apresentada à Universidade de Lisboa, através da Faculdade de Ciências, 2007The proposed European Marine Strategy Directive (MSD) enforces the need for protection and conservation of the marine environment, having as the main objective the achievement of good environmental status' of the marine waters under jurisdiction of the Member States by 2021. In the MSD, fish are included as a biological element, thus constituting a new requirement for the assessment of marine waters that needs to be evaluated on the initial assessment to be presented by the fourth year after entry into force. These requirements urge the definition of marine fish assemblage typologies in order to permit the establishment of type-specific reference values that characterise a good' marine fish assemblage. With the aim of establishing and characterising marine fish assemblages for the Portuguese continental shelf, from intertidal areas down to the 200 m isobath, a large variety of available data from studies conducted in Portuguese waters was collected and species were assigned into ecological guilds of several categories. Using guild and species data independently, a detrended correspondence analysis identified depth and bottom type as the factors underlying the main distribution gradient and led to the establishment of six assemblage typologies. A non-metric analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) tested the consistency of the defined typologies and a similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) routine identified the species and guilds that characterise each typology. Furthermore, the effects of latitude and seasonality were tested using ANOSIM and SIMPER within each typology, revealing that the first mainly affects soft substrate assemblages 20 to 100 m deep and the latter is noticed only deeper assemblages, within the same substrate. The established typologies revealed distinct structural and functional characteristics, thus requiring the establishment of different reference values for quality assessmentResumo alargado em português disponível no document

Filosofia africana e a crítica à Razão Negra de Achilles Mbembe.

Resumo: Na história da filosofia africana é quase sempre presente a justificativa que convença que existe uma filosofia africana, e que essa filosofia não tem inicio com a colonização europeia. Os processos de necropolítica e epistemicidio, consequência do período colonial no continente africano, colaboraram para o empobrecimento ontológico do ser-negro, impondo ao africano o status ontológico de inferioridade e subalternidade. Na compreensão de Achilles Mbembe por causa desses fatores a razão negra se ocupa basicamente em produzir argumentos com fundamentos que se tornaram resistência à escravatura, o colonialismo, e o apartheid