Métricas de desempenho

Pretende-se estabelecer uma relação entre os agentes envolvidos no desempenho, alertando para as mudanças em curso e para a importância crescente do corporate governance. É depois estabelecida uma relação entre objectivo e proposta numa métrica de desempenho genérica, na qual a produtividade merece uma atenção especial

Modern Safeguards Tools for Efficient and Effective Design Information Verification

Design Information Verification (DIV) is becoming increasingly important in International Safeguards as a way of verifying that facility set-up is consistent with the declared design and activities. This is particularly true for the complex environments of new nuclear installations. Member States Support Programmes (MSSPs) enabled the IAEA to develop and obtain a set of advanced tools designed to improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of DIV activities. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of these advanced tools based on laser, radar, X-ray fluorescence and infrared imaging technologies and their potential for being applied to containment- and other verification activities.JRC.E.9-Nuclear security (Ispra

Novel magnetic stimulation methodology for low-current implantable medical devices

Recent studies highlight the ability of inductive architectures to deliver therapeutic magnetic stimuli to target tissues and to be embedded into small-scale intracorporeal medical devices. However, to date, current micro-scale biomagnetic devices require very high electric current excitations (usually exceeding 1 A) to ensure the delivery of efficient magnetic flux densities. This is a critical problem as advanced implantable devices demand self-powering, stand-alone and long-term operation. This work provides, for the first time, a novel small-scale magnetic stimulation system that requires up to 50-fold lower electric current excitations than required by relevant biomagnetic technology recently proposed. Computational models were developed to analyse the magnetic stimuli distributions and densities delivered to cellular tissues during in vitro experiments, such that the feasibility of this novel stimulator can be firstly evaluated on cell culture tests. The results demonstrate that this new stimulative technology is able to deliver osteogenic stimuli (0.1-7 mT range) by current excitations in the 0.06-4.3 mA range. Moreover, it allows coil designs with heights lower than 1 mm without significant loss of magnetic stimuli capability. Finally, suitable core diameters and stimulator-stimulator distances allow to define heterogeneity or quasi-homogeneity stimuli distributions. These results support the design of high-sophisticated biomagnetic devices for a wide range of therapeutic applications.This work was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), through the grant references SFRH/BPD/117475/2016, SFRH/BD/129340/2017 and IF/01089/2015, and by the European Structural and Investment Funds, through the project reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031132 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007679. It was also support by the TEMA - Centre for Mechanical Technology & Automation (UID/EMS/00481/2013-FCT and CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-022083) and CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UID /CTM /50011/ 2013).in publicatio

Sensor Tracking and Mapping (STeAM)

STeAM (Sensor Tracking and Mapping) is a software suite developed at the JRC, which is used to operate its Mobile Laser Scanning Platform (MLSP) and to process the scan data acquired by the system. MLSP/STeAM are used by nuclear safeguards inspectors during on-site inspections and it is commercially available for non-nuclear applications through a JRC license agreement. This report provides an overview of the STeAM software and the new features introduced in STeAM 2.3.3.JRC.G.II.7-Nuclear securit

Perceção do Funcionamento Familiar e do Suporte Social em Estudantes do Ensino Superior em Portugal Continental

Objetivo: Esta investigação pretende analisar a perceção de funcionamento familiar e a satisfação do suporte social em estudantes do ensino superior em Portugal Continental. Metodologia: Participaram 516 estudantes a estudar em Aveiro, Coimbra, Leiria e Lisboa, nos cursos de Ciências do Desporto, Enfermagem, Engenharia Mecânica, Gestão, Jornalismo/Comunicação, Medicina e Psicologia com idades compreendidas entre os 17 e os 38 anos de idade. Os instrumentos aplicados foram a Escala de Avaliação da Flexibilidade e da Coesão Familiar (FACES-IV), Escala de Satisfação com o Suporte Social (ESSS) e o questionário sócio demográfico e de dados complementares. Resultados: Os participantes avaliaram as suas famílias como equilibradas, apresentando resultados elevados na coesão equilibrada e na flexibilidade equilibrada. Os estudantes referem boa comunicação familiar, mas sentem-se insatisfeitos com as suas famílias. Relativamente à satisfação com o suporte social, estudantes percecionam elevada e média satisfação com o Suporte Social. Os alunos que apresentam perceção mais elevada de suporte social são de Psicologia e Ciências do Deporto e os que apresentam menos satisfação são os de Medicina e os alunos que frequentam o quinto ano. As variáveis associadas ao funcionamento familiar explicaram 49 % da variância do suporte social. Conclusões: O funcionamento familiar e o suporte social parecem relacionar-se de forma positiva. Este estudo traz contributos para a compreensão do papel da família e do suporte social no processo de adaptação dos jovens ao ensino superior. / Objective/Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyse the perception of the family functioning and the satisfaction with the social support in higher education students from mainland Portugal. Methods: A total of 516 students participated in this research. They studied Sports Sciences, Nursing, Mechanical Engineering, Management, Journalism/Communication, Medicine and Psychology in Aveiro, Coimbra, Leiria and Lisbon. Their ages vary between 17 and 38 years old. The instruments applied were the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (FACES-IV), the Satisfaction with Social Support Scale (ESSS) and the socio-demographic and complementary data questionnaire. Results: The participants evaluated their families as balanced, presenting high results in balanced cohesion and in balanced adaptability. The students perceive good family communication and are mostly dissatisfied with their families. Concerning the satisfaction with social support, students perceived high and medium satisfaction with Social Support. The students who presented higher perception of social support study Psychology and Sports Sciences and the students with lower satisfaction study Medicine. Students attending the fifth year perceive lower satisfaction with social support. The variables associated with family functioning explain 49% of the social support variance. Conclusions: The family functioning and the social support seem to relate positively. This study brings contributes for the comprehension of the family role and social support in the process of adaptation to higher education

A cloud-based integration platform for enterprise application integration: A Model-Driven Engineering approach

This article addresses major information systems integration problems, approaches, technologies, and tools within the context of Model-Driven Software Engineering. The Guaraná integration platform is introduced as an innovative platform amongst state-of-the-art technologies available for enterprises to design and implement integration solutions. In this article, we present its domain-specificmodeling language and its industrial cloud-based web development platform, which supports the design and implementation of integration solutions. A real-world case study is described and analyzed; then, we delve into its design and implementation, to finally disclose ten measures that empirically help estimating the amount of effort involved in the development of integration solutions

Evaluating the Accuracy of Indoor Localization Devices

Indoor localisation in GPS-denied areas is a subject that currently receives a lot of attention in research and industry. There are many potential applications for indoor localization based on small and affordable consumer devices. It is however often difficult to evaluate the localization accuracy due to the unavailability of accurate ground-truth information. Over the last years, JRC has developed the Mobile Laser Scanning Platform (MLSP) for 3D mapping and indoor localization, which has been demonstrated to be significantly more accurate than what can be achieved with other (consumer) technologies. Since 2014, Microsoft has organized an Indoor Localization Competition which brings together players from research and industry to evaluate the current state of the art in indoor localization. JRC participated in the 2015 edition and won the first prize using the MLSP. In the following years, JRC co-organised the event and was responsible for evaluating the accuracy of the competing devices. In 2018, the evaluation was based on the average distance between the positions reported by the devices and the ground-truth trajectory generated by MLSP. This note describes the evaluation process and the activities that JRC carried out in preparation and during the event.  JRC.G.II.7-Nuclear securit

Preocupações do estudante trabalhador do curso de enfermagem nas suas práticas clínicas

Background: the flows in the labour market demand increasingly skilled workers, also leading to significant implications in the different areas of knowledge among them nursing. Many seek higher education, thus arising the student worker. Objective: to identify the main concerns of nursing student students before and during their clinical practice. Methodology: A qualitative approach, exploratory-descriptive and cross-sectional. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted in a nursing school in the north of the country with cultural diversity, applied to Spanish and Portuguese working students. The analysis of the information was based on content analysis. Results: Worker students' concerns emerged before and during clinical teaching, in particular the valorisation of the place of clinical teaching and family relations, coordination of schedules, appreciation of family / social relations, appreciation of the impact on their health and well-being and performance enhancement in clinical teaching. Conclusion: The results allowed us to know some of the nursing student's concerns before and during the clinical teaching, meaning a transformation not only in their daily life, family and social relationships, but also internal transformations with an impact on their health and well-being which should be considered by the heads of higher education institutions.Encuadramiento: los flujos de cambio en el mercado de trabajo exigen trabajadores cada vez más cualificados, conduciendo también a implicaciones significativas en las diferentes áreas del conocimiento entre ellas la enfermería. Muchos buscan la enseñanza superior, surgiendo así el estudiante trabajador. Objetivo: identificar las principales preocupaciones del estudiante trabajador del curso de enfermería antes y durante la realización de sus prácticas clínicas. Metodología: estudio de abordaje cualitativo, de naturaleza exploratorio-descriptivo y cariz transversal. Fueron realizadas 8 entrevistas semiestructuradas, se hicieron en una escuela de enfermería del norte del país con diversidad cultural, a los estudiantes trabajadores de nacionalidad española y portuguesa. El análisis de la información se basó en el análisis de contenido. Resultados: brotaron las preocupaciones del estudiante trabajador antes y durante la enseñanza clínica, especialmente la valorización del lugar de realización de la enseñanza clínica y de las relaciones familiares, coordinación de los horarios, valoración de las relaciones familiares / sociales, valorización del impacto en su salud y bienestar y valorización del desempeño en enseñanza clínica. Conclusión: los resultados permitieron conocer algunas preocupaciones del estudiante trabajador de enfermería antes y durante la realización de la enseñanza clínica, teniendo como resultado una transformación no sólo en su cotidiano, relación familiar y social, sino también transformaciones interiores con impacto en su salud y bienestar que deben ser consideradas por los responsables de las instituciones de enseñanza superior.Enquadramento: os fluxos de mudança no mercado de trabalho exigem trabalhadores cada vez mais qualificados, conduzindo também a implicações significativas nas diferentes áreas do conhecimento entre elas a enfermagem. Muitos procuram o ensino superior, surgindo assim o estudante trabalhador. Objetivo: identificar as principais preocupações do estudante trabalhador do curso de enfermagem antes e durante a realização das suas práticas clínicas. Metodologia: estudo de abordagem qualitativo, de natureza exploratório-descritivo e cariz transversal. Foram realizadas 8 entrevistas semiestruturadas, numa escola de enfermagem do norte do país com diversidade cultural, aplicadas a estudantes trabalhadores espanhóis e portugueses. A análise da informação foi baseada na análise de conteúdo. Resultados: brotaram as preocupações do estudante trabalhador antes e durante o ensino clínico nomeadamente a valorização do local de realização do ensino clínico e das relações familiares, coordenação de horários, valorização das relações familiares/sociais, valorização do impacto na sua saúde e bem-estar e valorização do desempenho em ensino clínico. Conclusão: os resultados permitiram conhecer algumas preocupações do estudante trabalhador de enfermagem antes e durante a realização do ensino clínico, significando vivenciar uma transformação não somente no seu quotidiano, relacionamento familiar e social, mas também transformações interiores com impacto na sua saúde e bem-estar que devem ser consideradas pelos responsáveis das instituições de ensino superior

Nuclear Safeguards R&D and Innovation at the JRC

Nuclear safeguards are from the very origin of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), and as enshrined in the EURATOM Treaty, a key duty of the European Commission and a field in which JRC has a fully unique position in Europe. In this area JRC is an un-replaceable R&D partner of Euratom safeguards authority and IAEA through its very extensive support programme. The JRC R&D safeguards programme aims in one hand at maintaining traditional safeguards at level so that deterrence to diversion from civil cycle remains high, taking into account that more installations will need to be safeguarded by EU and international authorities. This relies on development of advanced NDA, DA and CS techniques, full remote and unattended (authenticated) technology and stringent quality systems in measurements and results delivery. In another hand the RD programme put more focus on material flows in sensitive uranium and spent fuel handling facilities and use of fingerprinting techniques to cover diversion scenarios and more performing and accurate environmental sampling techniques and traces analysis. Open-source analysis and development of new tools and methodologies for the control of Import/export are areas where the effort is also increased. In the JRC R&D programme a special attention is also given to the development of accountancy and safeguards concepts for advanced fuel cycles (GenIV) as well as proliferation resistance methodology. This scientific/technical work is encompassed by appropriate training activities. This paper is about some of the new R&D and innovation activities of the JRC as part of the EU contribution to the implementation of effective nuclear safeguards inside and outside the EU.JRC.E.9-Nuclear security (Ispra

Integration of Nuclear Safeguards and Security at the JRC

At political level, security and safeguards remain in separate hands. Safeguards are implemented by international and national authorities through an international treaty, while security is an important national responsibility. At a technical level the synergies between safeguards and security lead to their integration allowing better optimization of the resources and important benefit from exchange of experience and expertise between the two systems. In this paper, we will illustrate this integration process between nuclear security and safeguards. Many examples will be presented such as: non destructive assay (NDA) in nuclear safeguard /detection and identification of illicit nuclear and radioactive materials, destructive analysis (DA) and environmental sampling in nuclear safeguards/ nuclear forensic, use of seals in nuclear security for containers, combined camera and gamma/neutron source for source localisation in luggage, Open source information, export controls are also areas were the integration is possible.JRC.E.9-Nuclear security (Ispra