Efeitos de uma intervenção psicomotora em competências socioemocionais e cognitivas de crianças em idade escolar

Este trabalho teve como objetivo investigar os efeitos de uma intervenção psicomotora nas competências socioemocionais e cognitivas de um grupo de pré-adolescentes, especificamente na regulação emocional, relações interpessoais, autoconceito, autoestima e atenção/concentração. A amostra integrou 32 participantes (10-12 anos), na sua maioria (53.1%) do sexo feminino. Quinze participantes (grupo experimental) participaram na intervenção psicomotora durante 11 semanas, com frequência bissemanal. Durante o mesmo período, os restantes 17 participantes (grupo de controlo) mantiveram a sua rotina habitual. As sessões foram constituídas por atividades de cooperação, competição, assertividade e/ou roleplaying, com um momento final de relaxação (Método Relaxação Activa na Escola de Samy Boski). Foram encontrados diversos resultados estatisticamente significativos na análise intra- e entre-grupos nas variáveis relacionadas com a regulação emocional, relação com os pares, autoconceito e autoestima e atenção, demostrando um efeito positivo da intervenção psicomotora. Conclui-se que a intervenção psicomotora pode ser uma mais valia na promoção de competências socioemocionais e cognitivas em jovens pré-adolescentes; Effects of psychomotor intervention in socio-emotional and cognitive skills of school-age children Abstract: This study had the purpose to investigate the effects of a psychomotor practice on socio-emotional and cognitive competences of a preadolescents group. Specifically, on emotional regulation, interpersonal relations, self-concept, self-esteem and attention/ concentration. The sample was composed of 32 participants (10-12 years), mostly female (53.1%). Fifteen participants (experimental group) participated in a Psychomotricity program for the 11 weeks, with two sessions per week. During the same period, the remaining 17 participants (control group) maintained their usual routine. The sessions were constituted by activities of cooperation, competition, assertiveness and / or roleplaying, with a final moment of relaxation (Method Active Relaxation at the School of Samy Boski). Were found statistically significant results in intra and intergroup analyzes in the variables related to the emotional regulation, relation with the pairs, self-concept, self-esteem and attetion demonstrating a positive effect of psychomotor intervention. It can be concluded that psychomotor practice can be an asset in the promotion of socio-emotional and cognitive competences

Detection of Power Line Supporting Towers via Interpretable Semantic Segmentation of 3D Point Clouds

The inspection and maintenance of energy transmission networks are demanding and crucial tasks for any transmission system operator. They rely on a combination of on-theground staff and costly low-flying helicopters to visually inspect the power grid structure. Recently, LiDAR-based inspections have shown the potential to accelerate and increase inspection precision. These high-resolution sensors allow one to scan an environment and store it in a 3D point cloud format for further processing and analysis by maintenance specialists to prevent fires and damage to the electrical system. However, this task is especially demanding to handle on time when we consider the extensive area that the transmission network covers. Nonetheless, the transition to point cloud data allows us to take advantage of Deep Learning to automate these inspections, by detecting collisions between the grid and the revolving scene. Deep Learning is a recent and powerful tool that has been successfully applied to a myriad of real-life problems, such as image recognition and speech generation. With the introduction of affordable LiDAR sensors, the application of Deep Learning on 3D data emerged, with numerous methods being proposed every day to address difficult problems, from 3D object detection to 3D point cloud segmentation. Alas, state-of-the-art methods are remarkably complex, composed of millions of trainable parameters, and take several weeks, if not months, to train on specific hardware, which makes it difficult for traditional companies, like utilities, to employ them. Therefore, we explore a novel mathematical framework that allows us to define tailored operators that incorporate prior knowledge regarding our problem. These operators are then integrated into a learning agent, called SCENE-Net, that detects power line supporting towers in 3D point clouds. SCENE-Net allows for the interpretability of its results, which is not possible in conventional models, it shows an efficient training and inference time of 85 mn and 20 ms on a regular laptop. Our model is composed of 11 trainable geometrical parameters, like the height of a cylinder, and has a Precision gain of 24% against a comparable CNN with 2190 parameters.A inspeção e manutenção de redes de transmissão de energia são tarefas cruciais para operadores de rede. Recentemente, foram adotadas inspeções utilizando sensores LiDAR de forma a acelerar este processo e aumentar a sua precisão. Estes sensores são objetos de alta precisão que conseguem inspecionar ambientes e guarda-los no formato de nuvens de pontos 3D, para serem posteriormente analisadas por specialistas que procuram prevenir fogos florestais e danos à estruta eléctrica. No entanto, esta tarefa torna-se bastante difícil de concluir em tempo útil pois a rede de transmissão é bastasnte vasta. Por isso, podemos tirar partido da transição para dados LiDAR e utilizar aprendizagem profunda para automatizar as inspeções à rede. Aprendizagem profunda é um campo recente e em grande desenvolvimento, sendo aplicado a vários problemas do nosso quotidiano e facilmente atinge um desempenho superior ao do ser humano, como em reconhecimento de imagens, geração de voz, entre outros. Com o desenvolvimento de sensores LiDAR acessíveis, o uso de aprendizagem profunda em dados 3D rapidamente se desenvolveu, apresentando várias metodologias novas todos os dias que respondem a problemas complexos, como deteção de objetos 3D. No entanto, modelos do estado da arte são incrivelmente complexos e compostos por milhões de parâmetros e demoram várias semanas, senão meses, a treinar em GPU potentes, o que dificulta a sua utilização em empresas tradicionais, como a EDP. Portanto, nós exploramos uma nova teoria matemática que nos permite definir operadores específicos que incorporaram conhecimento sobre o nosso problema. Estes operadores são integrados num modelo de aprendizagem prounda, designado SCENE-Net, que deteta torres de suporte de linhas de transmissão em nuvens de pontos. SCENE-Net permite a interpretação dos seus resultados, aspeto que não é possível com modelos convencionais, demonstra um treino eficiente de 85 minutos e tempo de inferência de 20 milissegundos num computador tradicional. O nosso modelo contém apenas 11 parâmetros geométricos, como a altura de um cilindro, e demonstra um ganho de Precisão de 24% quando comparado com uma CNN com 2190 parâmetros

Development of new technologies for the selective removal of volatile compounds with applications in forensic science and natural aromas

Tese de doutoramento, Farmácia (Química Farmacêutica e Terapêutica), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia, 2015The increasing awareness on the environmental problems, led to an increasing demand of “greener” processes in the several fields of science, focusing mainly in solvent-free processes. We find two good examples in both forensic toxicology and natural compounds extraction fields, where solvents are still widely used. In the last twenty years hair has gained great relevance as a toxicological sample, namely in the field of drugs of abuse. Although this matrix allows the detection of such compounds after weeks, months and even years (in same cases), it requires a precleaning step (decontamination) in order to ensure the absence of drugs at the hair surface. Despite the existence of several decontamination strategies, none ensures the absence of drug at the hair surface. On the other, in the field of the extraction of natural compounds, it has been observed a rising demand for more selective, environmentally friendly, and cheaper extraction techniques that can be industrially applied. In these contexts, the non-volatility of ionic liquids (ILs) makes them almost ideal systems for the sorption of compounds. In literature it is possible to find already some applications of these liquids, namely in the adsorption of dioxins. We hereby present the development of new technologies for the selective removal of volatile compounds, applied to forensic toxicology (hair testing, using ILs) and to natural aromas (essential oils, without using ILs). We started to apply the ILs to the decontamination of hair samples containing opiates at the surface. More than forty ILs were screened (100 ºC, 96h) and the liquid 1- ethanol-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, [C2OHMIM][BF4], showed very promising results (extraction efficiency > 80%). In order to reduce the extraction time to less than 24h, the process was optimized by means of Design of Experiment (DOE), and the final experimental conditions were 120 ºC, 16 h and a water content of 44% (w/w). The method was then compared with Cairns method (a common and very time-consuming decontamination strategy) and the results showed that the developed method yielded, in average, slightly better results (% difference ~5%). The method was then applied to both cocaine and cannabinoids. In the case of cocaine, the temperature led to the spontaneous hydrolysis of cocaine into its metabolite benzoylecgonine (BZE). Unfortunately, we were not able to remove BZE from the hair surface and no explanation for this phenomenon was found. As for the cannabinoids, the ILs screening revealed a great affinity to these compound (extraction efficiency > 90%). Once more the liquid [C2OHMIM][BF4] was chosen and the method was optimized for the cannabinoids extraction, and its final conditions were 100 ºC and 13 h. When compared with the Cairns decontamination, our method showed higher extraction efficiency. The developed decontamination procedure was then rationalized in order to fully understand the phenomenon. A three steps model was assumed: transport of the drugs to IL gas-liquid interface, adsorption onto the liquid free surface and absorption into the bulk liquid. Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) experiments, as well as surface tension measurements were performed to evaluate the proposed model. The results confirmed that the water vapor enhances the transport of the drugs (due to solubilization). Additionally, using Kamlet-Taft parameters to characterize the polarity of ILs, we concluded that the cations with the highest acidity and lowest basicity parameters are the most efficient in the removal of the drugs from hair. The second part of the work involved the development of a new technology to selectively extract volatile compounds from botanicals. Using Eucalyptus globulus leafs as a model, a new extraction technique based on the vapor pressures was developed. In this particular case we found no need to use ILs. The method was optimized by mean of DOE and the optimum conditions were: 50 ºC, a nitrogen flow rate of 0.15 l/min , during 2.36 h. The vapor should be condensed at -10 ºC. Under these conditions the extraction yield was of 6.11 % (w/w). The method was further applied to both Lavandula dentata and Rosmarinus officinalis. The results showed not only the removal of the more volatile compounds (as expected), but also high extraction yields (7.23 % and 4.28 %, respectively).Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), SFRH/BD/73228/201

Cracking catalítico de resíduos plásticos

No presente trabalho foram realizadas análises à degradação térmica e catalítica do polietileno de alta densidade (PEAD), de resíduos plásticos de cabos eléctricos e do hidrocarboneto n-C50. Analisou-se, ainda, a influência do n-C50 na degradação catalítica dos resíduos de cabos eléctricos, variando as proporções da mistura cabos/C50. Para isso, usaram-se simultaneamente as técnicas de Termogravimetria (TGA) e Calorimetria Diferencial de Varrimento (DSC), sob atmosfera inerte. No estudo em causa utilizou-se o zeólito ZSM-5 como catalisador de partida. Posteriormente submeteu-se o zeólito a tratamentos de dessilicação, variando a concentração da solução básica empregue durante o tratamento alcalino. Procedeu-se à caracterização textural dos zeólitos através da adsorção de azoto, e à caracterização da acidez pela técnica de termodessorção a temperatura programada. Averiguou-se o efeito da dessilicação dos zeólitos na pirólise catalítica do PEAD, resíduos de cabos eléctricos e C50. Verificou-se que a dessilicação conduziu a um aumento da mesoporosidade e da área de superfície externa, sem ocorrerem alterações significativas na microporosidade. O tratamento de dessilicação dos zeólitos conduziu a um aumento da sua actividade durante a pirólise catalítica dos resíduos de cabos eléctricos e do n-C50, diminuindo a temperatura de degradação catalítica dos mesmos. Constatou-se que a presença de hidrocarboneto baixou a temperatura de degradação catalítica dos resíduos de cabos eléctricos, melhorando a actividade do zeólito. Analogamente os resíduos de cabos eléctricos também aceleraram a degradação catalítica do n-C50, isto é, o hidrocarboneto, na presença dos resíduos, inicia a sua degradação catalítica a uma temperatura inferior comparativamente a quando se encontra isolado

Desenvolvimento e aplicação de critérios de qualidade aos alimentos perecíveis expostos no supermercado

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina VeterináriaCom este estudo pretende avaliar-se a qualidade dos alimentos perecíveis em exposição nos supermercados, na perspectiva do consumidor. A metodologia utilizada consistiu na análise por inspecção visual de um conjunto de critérios de qualidade aplicados ao ponto de venda, do lado do consumidor. Para essa análise, e com base na revisão de literatura, criou-se um conjunto de critérios de qualidade aplicados a cada departamento de produtos alimentares perecíveis. O instrumento utilizado foi a Check list, que integrou a criação de todos os critérios de qualidade, tendo sido aplicado a três supermercados durante os sete dias da semana. Os resultados obtidos das Check lists dão a conhecer o estado real da qualidade na apresentação de alimentos perecíveis no supermercado. O conhecimento desta realidade é o objectivo central do estudo, uma vez que permite compreender a situação em matéria de qualidade relativa aos vários departamentos, com vista a desenhar-se uma oferta mais adequada às expectativas do consumidor. De entre os resultados obtidos em todos os departamentos destacam-se, por apresentarem maior prevalência de não conformidades, os critérios de identificação e preço dos alimentos facilmente visíveis, os produtos em promoção, a rotulagem em português e o critério de qualidade global do género alimentar exposto.Abstract THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF QUALITY CRITERIA TO PERISHABLE FOODS DISPLAYED IN SUPERMARKETS - This study is intended to evaluate the quality of perishable foods on display in supermarkets, from a consumer’s perspective. The methodology used consisted of an analysis - based on a visual inspection - of a set of quality criteria applied at the point of sale, on the the consumer’ side. With the aid of a literature review, a set of quality criteria was created for this analysis, which was then applied to every category of perishable food items. The tool that was utilized was a checklist of these quality criteria, which was then applied to three grocery stores, every day of the week. The results derived from the checklists reflect the true state of the quality of the presentation of perishable food items in supermarkets. Knowledge of this reality is the central objective of the study, as it enables a further understanding of the relative state of quality in various perishable food categories, which can then be used to design a system more suitable to the expectations of the consumer. Amongst the results obtained in each category, the criteria for food identification, the prices of highly visible food items, products on sale, Portuguese language labels, and the overall quality criterion of exposed food items are highlighted because they demonstrate a higher rate of non-compliance

Recovery doesn’t get a day off: um contributo para a compreensão das estratégias de recuperação em tripulantes de ambulância

É intuitivo assumir que os indivíduos precisam de descansar após um dia de trabalho. Sendo cada vez mais confrontados com todo o tipo de exigências laborais e, consequentemente, sentimentos de fadiga e exaustão, é crucial que sejam dadas oportunidades de descanso aos trabalhadores para que os seus recursos possam ser restabelecidos, ao que Zijlstra e Sonnentag (2006) apelidaram como sendo um processo de recuperação. Neste contexto, o presente estudo procura analisar os antecedentes (através do Modelo JD-R) e a perspetiva processual da recuperação (incluindo atividades e experiências) entre 22 tripulantes de ambulância, por meio da realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas. Para a análise de conteúdo das entrevistas, foi utilizado o software MaxQDA2018, fazendo uso de um sistema de categorias que combina uma abordagem indutiva e dedutiva na definição do mesmo. De um modo geral, as estratégias de recuperação relatadas vão ao encontro da literatura referenciada (Sonnentag, 2001), embora as atividades físicas, o afastamento psicológico e os relatos de sono registem resultados mais díspares entre os participantes. No âmbito das características do trabalho, são predominantemente referenciadas exigências emocionais e/ou psicológicas associadas, maioritariamente, a ocorrências que envolvem crianças. O suporte dos colegas, a motivação intrínseca, a empatia e a competência de relação com as vítimas surgem, por sua vez, como os principais recursos utilizados pelos participantes. É igualmente identificado, numa fase final, um conjunto de sugestões de mudança e melhoria facejando as dificuldades e exigências da atividade associadas, sobretudo, ao desenvolvimento de programas de formação e sistemas de apoio à saúde mental, bem como à criação de eventos que fomentem o trabalho em equipa.It’s intuitive to assume that individuals need to rest after a work-day. Increasingly facing all kind of demands and, therefore, feelings of fatigue and exhaustion, it is crucial to provide the employees with opportunities to rest so that their resources can be restored, which Zijlstra and Sonnentag (2006) have established as a recovery process. With this in mind, the current research seeks to analyze the antecedents (through the JD-R Model) and recovery’s procedural perspective (including activities and experiences) among 22 ambulance workers, through semistructured interviews. MaxQDA2018 software was used for the interview’s content analysis, drawing upon a category system that combines both an inductive and deductive approach. In general, the recounted recovery strategies are compliant with the referenced literature (Sonnentag, 2001), though physical activities, psychological detachment and sleep reports have presented some inconsistent results among participants. In what concerns work characteristics, emotional and/or psychological demands are reported as being mostly connected with children related incidents. In turn, peer support, intrinsic motivation, empathy and the ability to establish a relationship with the victims emerge as the main resources used by participants. Ultimately, a set of change or improvement oriented suggestions are also identified, addressing the work difficulties and demands within the sector, mainly pointing to training programs and mental health systems development, as well as team work events establishment

Criação de uma solução conceptual que permita uma integração entre ERPs e redes sociais

O presente trabalho apresenta uma solução conceptual para a problemática de integração de ERP com Redes Sociais. Para isto é proposto um modelo conceptual de integração entre estes sistemas. Baseado no modelo proposto foi implementada uma aplicação que permite a integração entre ERP e redes sociais usando CRM. O ERP utilizado nesta implementação foi o SAP. A escolha do ERP baseou-se com o facto de tentar criar uma solução o mais abrangente possível, já que este é o ERP com mais quota de mercado atualmente. Para rede social foi selecionada o Facebook por motivos semelhantes de mercado. Foi efetuada uma revisão da literatura, que inclui uma preocupação com todos os temas necessários e relevantes para a resolução e compreensão deste problema. A aplicação implementada consiste em criar campanhas publicitarias utilizando dados diretamente do ERP em questão e exportando-os de forma especifica, controlada e personalizada para o Facebook. Os utilizadores desta aplicação podem personalizar aspetos das campanhas publicitarias como os artigos pertencentes, os clientes que vão receber a campanha entre outros aspetos. O modelo desenvolvido é facilmente aplicado a uma qualquer industria e pode servir como suporte para empresas informáticas que pretendam desenvolver software nesta área.The present work presents a conceptual solution to solve the problems related with a ERP/Social Network integration. In order to fulfill that goal a conceptual model was created. Based on this model an application was proposed that allows such integration. The ERP system used in this implementation was SAP. The choice of this ERP was based on the fact that we are trying to create the broadest solution possible since SAP is currently the ERP with more market share. The social network selected for this work was Facebook, it was chosen for the same reasons than SAP. A literature review was carried out, which includes a concern with every theme necessary and relevant to the resolution and understanding of this problem. The application consists on creating publicity campaigns using data from the ERP database and exporting it, in a specific, controlled, and personalized way to Facebook. The users of this application will be able to personalize the aspects of publicity campaigns they create such as items or the clients that will receive that particular campaign. The model developed is easily applied to any industry and it can serve as support for other IT companies that intend to develop software on this field

Comparative study of sample preparation procedures to determine the main compounds in ayahuasca beverages by QuEChERS and high‐performance liquid chromatography analysis

Introduction Ayahuasca is a psychoactive drink originally consumed by indigenous people of the Amazon. The lack of regulation of this drink leads to uncontrolled consumption, and it is often consumed in religious contexts. Objective The aim of this work is to compare three miniaturised extraction techniques for extracting the main ayahuasca compounds from beverages. Methodology Three sample pretreatment techniques were evaluated (dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction [DLLME], microextraction by packed sorbent [MEPS] and QuEChERS [Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe]) for the simultaneous extraction of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), tetrahydroharmine (THH), harmine, harmaline, harmol and harmalol from ayahuasca beverage samples. Then, the most promising technique (QuEChERS) was chosen to pre-concentrate the analytes, subsequently detected by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). Results The procedure was optimised, with the final conditions being 500 μL of extractor solvent, 85 mg of primary secondary amine (PSA) and 4 s of vortexing. The analytical method was validated, showing to be linear between 0.16 and 10 μg/mL for β-carbolines and between 0.016 and 1 μg/mL for DMT, with coefficients of determination (R2) between 0.9968 and 0.9993. The limit of detection (LOD) and lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) were 0.16 μg/mL for all compounds, except for DMT (0.016 μg/mL) and extraction efficiencies varied between 60.2% and 88.0%. Conclusion The analytical methodology proved to be accurate and precise, with good linearity, LODs and LLOQs. This method has been fully validated and successfully applied to ayahuasca beverage samples.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

In Vitro Study of the Bioavailability and Bioaccessibility of the Main Compounds Present in Ayahuasca Beverages

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive beverage that contains the psychoactive compound N,N-dimethyltryptamine and β-carboline alkaloids. This study aims at determining in vitro the bioavailability and bioaccessibility of the main compounds present in decoctions of four individual plants, in a commercial mixture and in four mixtures of two individual plants used in the preparation of Ayahuasca. The samples were subjected to an in vitro digestion process, and the Caco-2 cell line was used as an absorption model. The integrity and permeability of the cell monolayer were evaluated, as well as the cytotoxicity of the extracts. After digestion and cell incubation, the compounds absorbed by the cell monolayer were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array detector. The results showed that compounds such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine, Harmine, Harmaline, Harmol, Harmalol and Tetrahydroharmine were released from the matrix during the in vitro digestion process, becoming bioaccessible. Similarly, some of these compounds, after being incubated with the cell monolayer, were absorbed, becoming bioavailable. The extracts did not show cytotoxicity after cell incubation, and the integrity and permeability of the cell monolayer were not compromised.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comparative study of sample preparation procedures to determine the main compounds in ayahuasca beverages by QuEChERS and high‐performance liquid chromatography analysis

Introduction : Ayahuasca is a psychoactive drink originally consumed by indigenous people of the Amazon. The lack of regulation of this drink leads to uncontrolled consumption, and it is often consumed in religious contexts. Objective :The aim of this work is to compare three miniaturised extraction techniques for extracting the main ayahuasca compounds from beverages. Methodology:Three sample pretreatment techniques were evaluated (dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction [DLLME], microextraction by packed sorbent [MEPS] and QuEChERS [Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe]) for the simultaneous extraction of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), tetrahydroharmine (THH), harmine, harmaline, harmol and harmalol from ayahuasca beverage samples. Then, the most promising technique (QuEChERS) was chosen to pre-concentrate the analytes, subsequently detected by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). Results: The procedure was optimised, with the final conditions being 500 μL of extractor solvent, 85 mg of primary secondary amine (PSA) and 4 s of vortexing. The analytical method was validated, showing to be linear between 0.16 and 10 μg/mL for β-carbolines and between 0.016 and 1 μg/mL for DMT, with coefficients of determination (R2) between 0.9968 and 0.9993. The limit of detection (LOD) and lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) were 0.16 μg/mL for all compounds, except for DMT (0.016 μg/mL) and extraction efficiencies varied between 60.2% and 88.0%. Conclusion: The analytical methodology proved to be accurate and precise, with good linearity, LODs and LLOQs. This method has been fully validated and successfully applied to ayahuasca beverage samples.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio