The Eighth Sustainable Development Goal considering the economic system and its contradictions – A Critique

This article focuses on the eighth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for the global community, analysing its objectives and recommendations that are to be achieved by 2030 in the sectors of economic growth and employment. It is a critique of the SDG chosen, in light of the current economic system and its contradictions, taking into account the new factors of the decade, such as technology and the environmental crisis. Economic growth was present in every economic analysis in the past decade, but should it be the focus of the next? The current environmental concerns have forced the global community to rethink the way we look at economic growth and the system in general. The article will also explore the contradictions in employment and work while attempting to explain the problems of this sector. A special attention will be given to profit and the way it prevents the creation of decent jobs. The new possibilities of the green economy and the technological progress will be taken into account and developed. It will finish with a reflection on the economic system in general and the SDGs, while also proposing a solution to the problems of the next decades concerning the economic and employment sector

Relatório de estágio: Fundação Intras

Mestrado em Línguas e Relações EmpresariaisO presente trabalho propõe-se a descrever o estágio curricular realizado na Fundación INTRAS, Espanha. O estágio fez parte do 2º ano de Mestrado em Línguas e Relações Empresariais. Neste relatório será abordado o perfil da instituição de acolhimento e o seu papel perante a sociedade. De igual modo, será feita uma descrição das tarefas realizadas durante o período de estágio e uma reflexão crítica sobre o estágio e a minha estada em Espanha.This work aims to describe the internship held at INTRAS Foundation, Spain. The internship was part of the 2nd year of the Masters Degree in Languages and Business Relations. The profile of the host institution and its role in society will be discussed in the report. A brief analysis of the important aspects that stem from the application of Soft Skills will also be carried out. There will also be a description of the tasks performed during the internship and a critical appraisal about it and my stay in Spain

Efeitos da prática regular de exercício aquático em mulheres com osteoartrose do joelho

Mestrado em FisioterapiaA artrose é a condição articular mais comummente diagnosticada em todo o mundo, está fortemente associada à idade e acarreta elevados custos socioeconómicos. Neste contexto torna-se essencial investigar novas estratégias terapêuticas e validar as atuais de forma a encontrar as que melhor se adaptam a cada paciente ou grupos de pacientes com características semelhantes. O objetivo principal foi comparar a força muscular, a mobilidade funcional, a amplitude articular, a dor, a função física e a estabilidade postural de mulheres com osteoartrose do joelho que realizavam exercício aquático supervisionado com mulheres que não realizavam exercício específico. Foi também objetivo do estudo avaliar a associação das variáveis força muscular, amplitude articular, função física, dor e estabilidade postural. A amostra foi constituída por trinta e sete mulheres com osteoartrose do joelho divididas em dois grupos: grupo de exercício aquático (n=17; 73,2 ± 3,7 anos de idade) composto por mulheres que reportaram a prática regular de exercício aquático supervisionado nos 6 meses anteriores ao início do estudo (1 sessão semanal de 45 minutos); grupo que não praticava exercício estruturado (n=17: 73,3 ± 6,3 anos de idade). As sessões de exercício aquático eram compostas por exercícios dirigidos para o desenvolvimento da aptidão cardiorespiratória, do equilíbrio, da coordenação, da força muscular e da flexibilidade. Avaliou-se a força muscular isométrica (dinamómetro), a dor (escala visual analógica), a mobilidade funcional (Timed Up & Go Test), a amplitude articular do joelho (goniometria), a função física (Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score- Physical Function Shortform) e a estabilidade postural (plataforma de forças). Não se observaram diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre grupos na força dos isquiotibiais, mobilidade funcional, função física, amplitude articular do joelho e estabilidade postural. O grupo a realizar exercício aquático apresentou menor força do quadricípite (20,8 ± 7,2 vs. 28,7 ± 8,1; p=0,004) e maior dor (6,1 ± 1,9 vs. 4,0 ± 1,8; p=0,001). A força muscular correlacionou-se inversamente com a dor. Maior força dos isquiotibiais também se associou a melhor mobilidade funcional e função física. O grupo de exercício aquático apresentou menor força muscular do quadricípete e mais dor. Também se observou que maior força muscular se associou a menor dor, melhor função física e melhor mobilidade funcional.Arthrosis is the most commonly diagnosed articular condition worldwide. It is strongly associated with age and involves high socio-economic costs. In this context, it becomes essential to study new therapeutic strategies and validate the current ones, in order to find the ones that best suite each patient or groups of patients with similar characteristics. To compare muscle strength, functional mobility, range of motion, pain, physical function and postural stability of women with knee osteoarthritis who performed supervised aquatic exercise with women who didn’t perform any specific exercise. The study also aimed to evaluate the association between muscle strength, range of motion, physical function, pain and postural stability. Thirty-seven women with knee osteoarthritis were divided into two groups: the aquatic exercise group (n=17; 73.2 ± 3.7 years old), formed by women who reported regular practice of supervised aquatic exercise in the 6 months prior to the study (1 weekly session of 45 minutes); and the group who didn´t practice structured exercise (n=17; 73.3 ± 6.3 years old). The sessions of aquatic exercise were based on exercises that aimed the development of cardiorespiratory fitness, balance, coordination, muscle strength and flexibility. We evaluated the isometric muscle strength (dynamometer), the pain (visual analog scale), the functional mobility (Timed Up & Go Test), the range of motion of the knee (goniometer), the physical function (Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score- Physical Function Shortform) and the postural stability (forces platform). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups, in terms of strength of the hamstrings, functional mobility, physical function, range of motion of the knee and postural stability. The group who performed physical exercise showed less strength of the quadriceps (20.8 ± 7.2 vs. 28.7 ± 8.1 p = 0.004) and greater pain (6.1 ± 1.9 vs. 4.0 ± 1, 8, p = 0.001). Muscle strength was correlated inversely with the pain. Greater strength of the hamstrings was also associated with better functional mobility and physical function. The aquatic exercise group showed lower muscle strength of the quadriceps and more pain. It was also observed that greater muscle strength was associated with lower pain, enhanced physical function and functional mobility

On the Use of Thermal Properties for Characterizing Dimension Stones

The use of dimension stones in architecture and civil engineering implies the knowledge of several mechanical, physical, and chemical properties. Even though it has been usual practice to measure physical and mechanical properties of dimension stones the same is not true for thermal properties such as thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, specific heat capacity, and heat production. These properties are particularly important when processes related with heating and cooling of buildings must be considered. Thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and specific heat capacity are related with the way thermal energy is transmitted and accumulated in stones; heat production has to do with the amount of radioactive elements in the rocks and so with the environmental impact of radioactivity and public health problems. It is important to start to measure on a routine basis those four thermal properties in rocks and, in particular, in dimension rocks so that their application can be improved and optimized. With this is mind three sets of different rock types (granites, limestones, and marbles) were collected to measure the thermal conductivity, the thermal diffusivity, and the specific heat capacity with the objective of characterizing them in terms of those properties. Since the same set of rocks has also been studied for other physical properties, a correlation amongst all the measured properties is attempted. For each rock type several samples were used to measure the thermal conductivity, the thermal diffusivity, and the specific heat capacity, and average values were obtained and are presented. As an example, for granites the thermal conductivity varies between 2.87 and 3.75 W/mK; for limestones varies between 2.82 and 3.17 W/mK; and for marbles varies between 2.86 and 3.02 W/mK. It is hoped that measuring thermal properties on dimension stones will help to better adequate them to their use in civil engineering as well as to adequate their use in terms of a CE product

Stress pós-traumático e qualidade de vida da familia do doente crítico

Este estudo tem como finalidade avaliar a efetividade de um modelo de intervenção centrado nas necessidades do familiar cuidador e implementado de forma sistematizada, essencialmente, em termos de diminuição do stress pós-traumática e melhorias na qualidade de vida. Trata-se de um estudo de ensaio controlado, efetuado de forma longitudinal, com dois grupos de familiares cuidadores – grupo de estudo e grupo de controlo, com dois momentos de avaliação – 24 a 48 horas pós internamento e dois meses após a alta da UCI. Utilizaram –se como instrumentos de avaliação um questionário com questões sociodemográficas dos doentes e familiares cuidadores; níveis de dependência e gravidade dos doentes; e escalas validadas para a população portuguesa que nos permitem avaliar – i) Qualidade de vida (World Health Organization Quality of Life – WHOQOL-BREF); ii) Sobrecarga (escala de sobrecarga do cuidador - ESC); iii) Sintomatologia psiquiátrica (Brief Symptom Inventory – BSI) e iv) Stress pós-traumático (The Impact of Event Scale – IES-R). Participaram no estudo 141 doentes e familiares cuidadores, dos quais 71 integraram o grupo de estudo e 70 o grupo de controlo

Gestão de projectos de parques eólicos : contributos para a melhoria do processo

Tese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Civil (especialização em Construções). Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200

A high level test processor and test program generator

Embedded test within integrated systems allows to overcome some of the difficulties found when testing using only an external tester. The reutilization of a reconfigurable FPGA-like block that may exist in certain SoC systems, enables the implementation of on-chip test processors highly optimized to meet the specific requirements of the test procedure for each block. The fast reconfiguration of SRAM-based FPGA blocks allows sharing the same physical area among the set of different circuits that may be necessary to implement the on-chip test suite of the whole system. This paper addresses the high level generation of specific programmable processors for testing different blocks within integrated systems, taking advantage of such existing programmable resources. The work presented herein proposes a methodology and a set of automation tools to enable the automatic generation of dedicated custom processor architectures for specific test operations, as well as the corresponding test programs. This facility can be seen as disposing of a highly flexible and optimised embedded tester, supplied as an intellectual property (IP) module and its software. The approach being proposed is based in the implementation of a test processor as an Application Specific Instruction-Set Processor (ASIP), whose set of conventional and dedicated instructions are automatically derived from a software specification of the test operation to be implemented. The actual configuration of the test processor is determined by the type of instructions the test designer uses in the test program. The processors instruction set is configured automatically from the source code of the program to be run, in order to include only the exact instructions required for that task. The generation of a test processor starts with a software specification of the test operation to be performed. Presently, this specification is done using a program written in an assembly level language whose instruction set comprises all the general purpose instructions supported by the processor core, plus an extra set of complex instructions that are responsible for the operation of the peripheral specific blocks. From this specification, a custom programmable processor is generated as a set of synthesisable HDL modules, including the identification of peripheral blocks associated to specific instructions, and the set of constrains and assignments required to instantiate and map these modules onto the FPGA. These descriptions are then forwarded to the specific FPGA technology mapping and implementation tools, to create an application-specific processor that includes only the instructions referred in the source code

Caracterização mineralógica e geotécnica dos solos para a construção em terra crua no sudoeste de Angola

RESUMO A construção feita em terra crua é um património cultural em Angola amplamente utilizado por famílias de baixa renda. No sudoeste de Angola existem inúmeras habitações de terra crua construídas com métodos e técnicas ancestrais que respeitam o meio ambiente. Entre as técnicas de construção em terra, destacam-se: o adobe, o pau-a-pique e mais recentemente em BTC (Bloco de Terra Comprimida). A sustentabilidade deste tipo de construção é um dos fatores que impulsionou o seu recente desenvolvimento em todo o mundo. É caracterizada por baixo consumo de energia e baixas emissões de carbono porque está associada a níveis de poluição perto de zero, por possuir níveis benéficos de humidade interna em termos de saúde humana, bom isolamento térmico e baixos custos económicos. Este trabalho faz parte de um projeto que visa melhorar e otimizar essas soluções construtivas, respondendo às demandas atuais de sustentabilidade social, económica e ambiental. Neste trabalho foram caracterizadas as propriedades mineralógicas de oito amostras de solos utilizados na construção em terra crua na região do sudoeste de Angola (província da Huíla), mediante a aplicação da técnica de análise mineralógica por Difração de raios-X (DRX) e as características geotécnicas (dimensões das partículas do solo, consistência, expansibilidade, densidade, compactação). Além disso, para avaliar a durabilidade dos adobes foram realizados os testes Geelong. Os resultados obtidos põem em evidência que as propriedades mineralógicas controlam as propriedades geotécnicas dos solos e o comportamento dos mesmos quando utilizados na construção em terra. ABSTRACT The construction made off raw earth is a cultural heritage in Angola widely used by low income households. In Southwest of Angola there are numerous dwellings of raw earth built with methods and ancestral techniques that respect the environment. Among the construction techniques in earth, stand out: the adobe, wattle-and-daub and more recently on CEB (Compressed Earth Block). The sustainability of this type of construction is one of the factors that has driven its recent development around the world. It is characterized by low energy consumption and low carbon emissions because it is associated with levels of pollution near zero, it provides beneficial indoor humidity levels in terms of human health, good thermal insulation and low economic costs. This work is part of a project, which aims to improve and optimize these constructive solutions, responding to the current demands of social, economic and environmental sustainability. In this work the mineralogical and mechanical properties of the soils used in the construction on raw earth in this region were characterized, in order to identify its potentialities and limitations as geomaterial in this type of eco-construction. In this work, the mineralogical properties of eight soil samples used in the construction in the ground in the southwestern region of Angola (Huíla province) were characterized by the application of mineralogical analysis by X-ray diffraction technique and the geotechnical characteristics (particle size, consistency, expansibility, density, Proctor compaction). In addition, the Geelong tests were performed to prove the durability of the adobes. The results show that the mineralogical properties control the geotechnical properties of the soils and their behavior for the construction on raw earth