Sinalização turística: metodologia para o desenvolvimento de sistemas de signos para informação a visitantes

A maior afluência de pessoas a determinados locais, como aeroportos, zonas comerciais, eventos, serviços públicos, instalações turísticas, etc., suscitou a necessidade de orientar essas pessoas num espaço desconhecido e comunicar mensagens básicas com uma linguagem compreendida por uma maioria. Por outro lado essa mesma mobilidade trouxe consigo desenvolvimento rodoviário associado a um crescente fluxo de indivíduos que se deslocam por necessidades várias de um ponto para outro. Esse deslocamento, muitas vezes efectuado em espaços desconhecidos, despoletou a necessidade em apreender novas regras, as quais passam a ser formalizadas através de signos que facilitam o acesso ou a circulação a determinados locais. Para o presente projecto de investigação identificou-­‐se um problema concreto: os sistemas de signos para informação turística em Portugal, na Europa e no mundo são díspares, na sua maioria não se relacionam graficamente, são incoerentes do ponto de vista da sua concepção gráfica e não existe a nível europeu um sistema normalizado. Estrategicamente, encontra-­‐se no design de informação uma resposta concreta para a obtenção de metodologias de investigação aplicadas à concepção de símbolos para informação turística

The evolution of design with concerns on sustainability

This paper aims to analyse the birth and evolution of design with concerns over sustainability, in the context of social and civilizational changes experienced since the industrial revolution, with particular focus since the post-war period and in the context of sustainable development. It will examine several factors that influenced this design approach and that drove its evolution through different stages of maturity and complexity. It will analyse the various forms of design with environmental concerns, as well as the inclusion of other criteria in the context of sustainability, namely social ones. The aim is to settle knowledge that can allow us to draw some lessons to meet the challenges we face today

Tipografia corporativa : codificação e descodificação gráfica

Trata-­‐se de uma investigação que visa compreender como é descodificada a Identidade Visual Corporativa, com o intuito de aumentar a eficácia comunicacional do trabalho dos designers ao nível da codificação, considerando o objectivo da empresa ou marca. Com base em 15 casos de estudo e através de quatro questionários, pretende-­‐se identificar conotações gráficas de logótipos e da tipografia corporativa, atendendo aos interesses estratégicos da empresa, produto ou serviço que representam e ao mercado em que operam. O desígnio dos designers ao nível da Identidade Visual Corporativa é confrontado com a percepção pública, de modo a obter dados sobre significados conotativos e denotativos veiculados pela tipografia corporativa e o modo como têm influência na definição da Imagem Corporativa. É objectivo deste estudo, a obtenção de dados ou método de suporte e avaliação de projectos de Identidade Visual Corporativa

Temperature-responsive nanomagnetic logic gates for cellular hyperthermia

While a continuous monitoring of temperature at the micro- and nano-scales is clearly of interest in many contexts, in many others a yes or no answer to the question "did the system locally exceed a certain temperature threshold?" can be more accurate and useful. This is the case of hard-to-detect events, such as those where temperature fluctuations above a defined threshold are shorter than the typical integration time of micro/nanothermometers and systems where fluctuations are rare events in a wide time frame. Herein we present the synthesis of iron selenide magnetic nanoplatelets and their use as non-volatile logic gates recording the near infrared (NIR) dose that triggers a temperature increase above a critical temperature around 42 °C in prostate cancer cell cultures. This use is based on the bistable behavior shown by the nanoplatelets below a magnetic phase transition at a tunable temperature T C and on their photothermal response under NIR light. The obtained results indicate that the synthesized nanomagnets may be employed in the future as both local heaters and temperature monitoring tools in a wide range of contexts involving systems which, as cells, are temperature-sensitive around the tunable T C

Utility of the trabecular bone score (TBS) in secondary osteoporosis.

Altered bone micro-architecture is an important factor in accounting for fragility fractures. Until recently, it has not been possible to gain information about skeletal microstructure in a way that is clinically feasible. Bone biopsy is essentially a research tool. High-resolution peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography, while non-invasive, is available only sparsely throughout the world. The trabecular bone score (TBS) is an imaging technology adapted directly from the Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA) image of the lumbar spine. Thus, it is potentially readily and widely available. In recent years, a large number of studies have demonstrated that TBS is significantly associated with direct measurements of bone micro-architecture, predicts current and future fragility fractures in primary osteoporosis, and may be a useful adjunct to BMD for fracture detection and prediction. In this review, we summarize its potential utility in secondary causes of osteoporosis. In some situations, like glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis and in diabetes mellitus, the TBS appears to out-perform DXA. It also has apparent value in numerous other disorders associated with diminished bone health, including primary hyperparathyroidism, androgen-deficiency, hormone-receptor positive breast cancer treatment, chronic kidney disease, hemochromatosis, and autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis. Further research is both needed and warranted to more clearly establish the role of TBS in these and other disorders that adversely affect bone

Paleo and historical seismicity in Mallorca (Baleares, Spain): a preliminary approach

The island of Mallorca is subject to low seismic activity. The instrumental record shows that current seismicity is surficial (<10 km depth) and low in magnitude (mb<4). Both historical and geological records display the occurrence of strong events, e.g. the 1851 Palma earthquake (VIII, MSK intensity). Data on this destruct ive event indicate that this was a seven month long seismic sequence, with two strong events, causing severe damage and collapse of buildings along Palma bay in addition to moderate ground collapses in the macroseismal zone. The earthquake epicenter was situated between Sa Cabaneta and Sta. Eugènia. This earthquake can be correlated with the trace of the Sencelles fault, the main extensional structure of the island on the surface. The geological and geophysical analyses of recent surface faulting features at the Portol doline (reverse surface faulting) and on the Sta. Eugènia segment of the Sencelles fault (bedrock fault scarp ) suggest recurrent large prehistoric events. Preliminary data show minimum vertical offsets of 2.56 m at the Portol doline and offsets of 3.50m at the Sta. Eugènia bedrock fault scarp. These offsets were accumulated in recent times (Holocene?). Displacements per event can be initially estimated as mean values of 0.88 to 0.40 m in both places, but larger offsets of a maximum of 1.68 m can also be inferred. Specific dendrochronologic, lichenometric, and weathering analyses to assess true single-event slip values, and their time-bracketing will be necessary. The interpretation of these displacement events in terms of earthquake magnitude is not straightforward because of the apparent subordinate nature of the ground rupture at the Po rtol doline and the possible influence of salt tectonics in both places. To address these issues, a fault-trench was planned along the Sencelles fault within the framework of a new research project. The Spanish seismic code (NCS94) assigns an expected maximum ground acceleration of 0.04 g for a 500 year return period to the area. In the light of our data these values are underestimated. The historical and geological records indicate the occurrence of historical VII to VIII MSK, and stronger prehistoric events. Peak ground horizontal accelerations of up to 0.10 g could be expected during modern earthquakes

Formation of Ceramide/Sphingomyelin Gel Domains in the Presence of an Unsaturated Phospholipid: A Quantitative Multiprobe Approach

AbstractTo better understand how ceramide modulates the biophysical properties of the membrane, the interactions between palmitoyl-ceramide (PCer) and palmitoyl-sphingomyelin (PSM) were studied in the presence of the fluid phospholipid palmitoyl-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) in membrane model systems. The use of two fluorescent membrane probes distinctly sensitive to lipid phases allowed a thorough biophysical characterization of the ternary system. In these mixtures, PCer recruits POPC and PSM in the fluid phase to form extremely ordered and compact gel domains. Gel domain formation by low PCer mol fraction (up to 12mol %) is enhanced by physiological PSM levels (∼20–30mol % total lipid). For higher PSM content, a three-phase situation, consisting of fluid (POPC-rich)/gel (PSM-rich)/gel (PCer-rich) coexistence, is clearly shown. To determine the fraction of each phase a quantitative method was developed. This allowed establishing the complete ternary phase diagram, which helps to predict PCer-rich gel domain formation and explains its enhancement through PSM/PCer interactions

Leitmann's direct method of optimization for absolute extrema of certain problems of the calculus of variations on time scales

The fundamental problem of the calculus of variations on time scales concerns the minimization of a delta-integral over all trajectories satisfying given boundary conditions. This includes the discrete-time, the quantum, and the continuous/classical calculus of variations as particular cases. In this note we follow Leitmann's direct method to give explicit solutions for some concrete optimal control problems on an arbitrary time scale.Comment: Accepted for publication (9/January/2010) in Applied Mathematics and Computatio