Portuguese Plan for Promoting Efficiency of Electricity end-use: policy, methodology and consumer participation

Trabalho apresentado na 12th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems, 4-8 outubro 2017, Dubrovnik, CroatiaThe Portuguese Electricity Demand-Side Efficiency Promotion Plan (PPEC) is a voluntary financial mechanism, under which several entities, among them electric utilities, may submit proposals of measures that contribute to the reduction of electricity consumption or load management. PPEC is of the schemes that provide financial support to the implementation of measures whose results contribute to the commitments made under the Portuguese National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP). In the first edition of the PPEC only three energy services were addressed while in the most recent PPEC edition, the sixth, measures addressed nine energy services. Also, the participation of consumers and other agents in cost-sharing has increased, razing the investment in energy efficiency from other actors besides that from the program administrator. PPEC, although a voluntary mechanism, has proven to be a very competitive one, involving an increasing number of sectors of the economy, measures and addressed energy services.N/

Ménard and Cambridge selfboring pressuremeters: correlations between mechanical parameters in miocene sandy soils

Comunicação apresentada em 6º Congresso Luso-Brasileiro de Geotecnia/XIII Congresso Nacional de Geotecnia, Lisboa, 16 e 17-20 de abril respetivamenteNo presente artigo apresenta-se um estudo de caracterização mecânica de areias miocénicas de Lisboa, efectuado a partir de ensaios pressiométricos. Foram realizados ensaios em terrenos no domínio dos solos rijos e das rochas brandas, no âmbito dos trabalhos de ampliação da rede do Metropolitano de Lisboa. Este estudo foi elaborado a partir de ensaios executados com um pressiómetro de Ménard e um pressiómetro autoperfurador de Cambridge. Procedeu-se ao cômputo do coeficiente de impulso em repouso a partir dos resultados experimentais, tendo-se obtido leis de crescimento em profundidade de parâmetros de deformabilidade. Estabeleceram-se correlações entre valores de pressão limite obtidos pelos pressiómetro Ménard e valores de ângulo de atrito determinados através do pressiómetro autoperfurador CSBP.This paper presents a mechanical characterization of Miocene sands of the Lisbon subsoil, carried out by pressuremeter tests. These tests were performed with a Ménard pressuremeter and a Cambridge selfboring pressuremeter in sandy materials classified as hard soils and soft rocks in the scope of the enlargement of Lisbon underground network. The coefficient of earth pressure at rest was computed, as well as the law of the increase with depth of the stiffness parameters. In the end, a correlation between the Ménard limit pressure and the CSBP angle of shearing resistance was established

Characterization and modeling of top spam botnets

The increasing impact of the Internet in the global economy has transformed Botnets into one of the most relevant security threats for citizens, organizations and governments. Despite the significant efforts that have been made over the last years to understand this phenomenon and develop detection techniques and countermeasures, this continues to be a field with big challenges to address. Several approaches can be taken to study Botnets: analyze its source code, which can be a hard task because it is usually unavailable; study the control mechanism, particularly the activity of its Command and Control server(s); study its behavior, by measuring real traffic and collecting relevant statistics. In this work, we have installed some of the most popular spam Botnets, captured the originated traffic and characterized it in order to identify the main trends/patterns of their activity. From the intensive statistics that were collected, it was possible to conclude that there are distinct features between Botnets that can be explored to build efficient detection methodologies. Based on this study, the second part of the paper proposes a generic and systematic model to describe the network dynamics whenever a Botnet threat is detected, defining all actors, dimensions, states and actions that need to be taken into account at each moment. We believe that this type of modeling approach is the basis for developing systematic and integrated frameworks and strategies to predict and fight Botnet threats in an efficient way.This research was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under research project PTDC/EEA-TEL/101880/2008

THE EFFECT OF WARM-UP ON SPRINTING KINEMATICS

The purpose of this study was to verify the effects of warm-up on kinematic variables during short distance repeated sprints. Twenty-two college students randomly performed 2 x 30-m running time-trials after warm-up or with no warm-up, in different days. Performance (time-trial) and biomechanical (step length and step frequency) were assessed during both repeated trials. Performance was 0.5% faster after warm-up in the first 30-m time-trial (p = 0.03, d = 0.44), but without differences on step length and frequency. The second sprint was not different between conditions, but it was better than the first sprint in the no warm-up condition. This condition also led to higher changes between the first and second sprint. Thus, the warm-up is suggested to improve maximal running performances and maintaining kinematics more similar throughout the sprints

Research Trends in Mechanical Engineering 2016: Conference Proceedings

Professor José Joaquim de Almeida Grácio was a man of many talents. His contribution to the development of physical models to predict the mechanical behaviour of materials for long-term applications in the areas of nanotechnology and forming processes was outstanding and of major international significance. He was a leader not only in his research but also at university administration level. Soon after he received his Ph.D. from the University of Coimbra (Portugal) in 1992, he joined the University of Aveiro with the mission of creating the Department of Mechanical Engineering (DEM). (...

Delivery of antimicrobial peptides for the treatment of mycobacteriosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which resides inside macrophages, has always been recognized as one of the most “successful” pathogens. Standard treatments have already been used for decades and, therefore, resistances to the first-line medicines are increasing. Additionally, poor patient compliance with stringent therapies is often pointed out as a major reason leading to treatment failure. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), a promising new class of broad spectrum antibiotics, are less prone to result in pathogen resistances due to their target (cellular membranes) and rapid action. In our laboratory we search for AMPs with potent activity against mycobacteria and try to develop efficient delivery systems based on self-assembled colloidal nanocarriers. Additionally, this systems are expected to reduce peptide toxicity and enhance selective uptake on infected cells. Finally, the use of encapsulated drugs in mycobacterial therapy may help reducing drug administration schedules which would ultimately improve patient compliance

Breast cancer targeted photothermal therapy mediated by hyaluronic acid functionalized reduced graphene oxide

The use of graphene-based nanomaterials in cancer photothermal therapy (PTT) is an emerging alternative to the currently available cancer treatments. In this regard, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has been widely explored for cancer PTT due to its excellent photothermal capacity. However, rGO has some limitations, such as low colloidal stability and water insolubility, as well as absence of targeting capacity towards cancer cells. Herein, rGO produced by an environmentally- friendly method was functionalized with an amphiphilic polymer based on hyaluronic acid (HA-rGO) through hydrophobic-hydrophobic interactions for application in targeted breast cancer PTT. The functionalization improved rGO colloidal stability and cytocompatibility towards normal and breast cancer cells, as well as conferred targeting capacity towards CD44 overexpressing breast cancer cells. In addition, the photothermal effect mediated by HA-rGO upon laser irradiation reduced breast cancer cells’ viability. Overall, HA-rGO demonstrated a great potential for being used on-demand and selective treatment of breast cancer cells.Rita Lima-Sousa and Cátia G. Alves acknowledge funding from the grant UBI Santander/Totta.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

IL-10 modulates depressive-like behavior

The role of pro-inflammatory cytokines in psychiatric disorders has been the focus of great research attention in recent years. Para- doxically, the same is not true for anti-inflammatory cytokines. In the present study, we assessed the behavioral profile of animals with altered expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. We performed a battery of tests to assess anxiety, depressive-like and cognitive behaviors in mice overexpressing IL-10 (PMT10) and IL-10-/- animals; in the later mice we also tested the behavioral effect of IL-10 administration. In the forced-swimming test, IL-10 / females displayed increased depressive-like behavior; importantly, this phenotype was reverted by the injection of IL-10. Moreover, mice overexpressing IL-10 presented a decreased depressive-like behavior. Despite the presence of a similar trend, male animals did not reach significant differences in depressive-like behavior. Assessment in the open-field showed that the absence of IL-10 decreased the percentage of time spent in the center of the arena in both male and female mice, while male animals overexpressing IL-10 revealed an opposite behavior. For both sexes, imbalance in IL-10 levels did not affect spatial reference memory. In conclusion, variations in IL-10 expression are associated with an altered depressive-like behavior, but do not influence cognitive performance. Interestingly, IL-10 imbalance produced more profound behavioral changes in females than in male animals. This is in accordance with clinical data demonstrating an increased susceptibility of women to mood disorders, suggesting an interplay between anti-inflammatory cytokines and sexual steroids.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) - AR (SFRH/BD/11838/2003)

Delivery of LLKKK18 loaded into self-assembling hyaluronic acid nanogel for tuberculosis treatment

uberculosis (TB), a disease caused by the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, recently joined HIV/AIDS on the top rank of deadliest infectious diseases. Low patient compliance due to the expensive, long-lasting and multi-drug standard therapies often results in treatment failure and emergence of multi-drug resistant strains. In this scope, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) arise as promising candidates for TB treatment. Here we describe the ability of the exogenous AMP LLKKK18 to efficiently kill mycobacteria. The peptide's potential was boosted by loading into self-assembling Hyaluronic Acid (HA) nanogels. These provide increased stability, reduced cytotoxicity and degradability, while potentiating peptide targeting to main sites of infection. The nanogels were effectively internalized by macrophages and the peptide presence and co-localization with mycobacteria within host cells was confirmed. This resulted in a significant reduction of the mycobacterial load in macrophages infected in vitro with the opportunistic M. avium or the pathogenic M. tuberculosis, an effect accompanied by lowered pro-inflammatory cytokine levels (IL-6 and TNF-). Remarkably, intra-tracheal administration of peptide-loaded nanogels significantly reduced infection levels in mice infected with M. avium or M. tuberculosis, after just 5 or 10 every other day administrations. Considering the reported low probability of resistance acquisition, these findings suggest a great potential of LLKKK18-loaded nanogels for TB therapeutics.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/ BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER- 006684). The authors also acknowledge the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462). The authors thank Dr. Hugo Osório (Proteomics Lab at I3S – Institute for Health Research and Innovation, Porto, Portugal) for the MALDI-ToF analysis. JPS acknowledges FCT for the financial support provided by grant SFRH/BPD/64958/2010

A novel approach for honey pollen profile assessment using an electronic tongue and chemometric tools

Nowadays the main honey producing countries require accurate labeling of honey before commercialization, including floral classification. Traditionally, this classification is made by melissopalynology analysis, an accurate but time-consuming task requiring laborious sample pre-treatment and high-skilled technicians. In this work the potential use of a potentiometric electronic tongue for pollinic assessment is evaluated, using monofloral and polyfloral honeys. The results showed that after splitting honeys according to color (white, amber and dark), the novel methodology enabled quantifying the relative percentage of the main pollens (Castanea sp., Echium sp., Erica sp., Eucaliptus sp., Lavandula sp., Prunus sp., Rubus sp. and Trifolium sp.). Multiple linear regression models were established for each type of pollen, based on the best sensors sub-sets selected using the simulated annealing algorithm. To minimize the overfitting risk, a repeated K-fold cross-validation procedure was implemented, ensuring that at least 10-20% of the honeys were used for internal validation. With this approach, a minimum average determination coefficient of 0.91 ± 0.15 was obtained. Also, the proposed technique enabled the correct classification of 92% and 100% of monofloral and polyfloral honeys, respectively. The quite satisfactory performance of the novel procedure for quantifying the relative pollen frequency may envisage its applicability for honey labeling and geographical origin identification. Nevertheless, this approach is not a full alternative to the traditional melissopalynologic analysis; it may be seen as a practical complementary tool for preliminary honey floral classification, leaving only problematic cases for pollinic evaluation.This work was co-financed by FCT/MEC and FEDER under Programme PT2020 (Project UID/EQU/50020/2013); and under the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit