315 research outputs found
Measuring performance in agri‐food supply chains: A case study of a Portuguese company
Organizations seek to create value, increase competitiveness, reduce costs, share information and strengthen relationships between the various actors in the chain. In this sense, it is of the utmost importance that tools be developed which define objectives, monitor processes and document the performance of the supply chains. The Performance Measurement Systems (PMS) have come about to aid decision support, bringing together relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPis) which are fundamental for decision makers when deciding the best strategies for increasing supply chain competitiveness. In this study a PMS was developed collating a range of KPIs that seek to help in the continuous improvement of the agri-food supply chain. A case study allowed a PMS model to be designed incorporating the experiences of professionals in the area and subsequent tests to be made of its applicability, its outputs and its usefulness for decision support in a Portuguese plant.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Design and business: growing up as a separate couple
This paper addresses the difficulties faced by postgraduate design students (DS) and professional designers (PD) concerning the design, development and implementation of business projects (BP), and of sustainable management (SM). The DS have not previously attended any specific course, either dealing with BP, or having had training in SM. A test administered to 60 DS enabled to picture issues regarding: (i) the sense of discomfort regarding business and management areas, due to lack of skills, and (ii) the special requirements for skills in unfamiliar areas such as production, management, marketing and product stewardship. The study determined that DS perceive the need for educational policies that allow the acquisition of new skills in the referred areas. However, it seems that they are not sensitive to BP/SM scientific’ research importance. Findings point out a direction to curriculum development to bridge Design and Business areas, by overcoming the identified gap.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
WALKINSENSE VALIDATION: PRELIMINARY TESTS OF MOBILITY PARAMETERS
The purpose of this study was to perform a preliminary validation of a new electronic instrument for human movement and performance assessment in sports. Measurements of distance, walking speed, step length and frequency were acquired, for a small sample of 15 subjects in a track of 10 m length, and compared to reference data. Results show good repeatability and data agreement across several trials at three different selfselected
walking speeds
13th FINA World Championships: analysis of swimsuits used by elite male swimmers
The purpose of this study was to describe the distribution of different swimsuits models used by male swimmers during all the finals at the 13th FINA World Championships, being held at Rome in 2009. Simultaneously, it was intended to verify the distribution of the different swimsuits used along the distances of the freestyle finals, and thus to understand the preferences of the top-level swimmers. It were used the results databases from the 13th FINA World Championships, in Rome 2009. Only the male swimmers participating at the finals were analyzed, for a total number of 17 individual swimming events. The wear swimsuit by each swimmer in a given event was observed from video recorded of the television broadcast. Male swimmers participating in the finals limited their choice to seven types of commercial swimsuits, of four different sports brands. Jaked01 Full® was the most used (47.07%), followed by the Powerskin X-Glide Full® (34.56%), the Powerskin X-Glide Pants® (7.35%) and the LZR Racer Full® (5.15%). In freestyle swimming events most of the male swimmers choose to wear full body swimsuits. Jaked01 Full® was predominant in the 50 m event, with 62.50% of swimmers choices. This value decreases to 25.00% when analyzing 100 m event, and remained similar over the longer distances swum. The Powerskin X-Glide Full® was used for 37.50% of the swimmers in 50 m swimming event, and it increases to 62.50% for the 100 m freestyle. These results seem to demonstrate that swimmers have preferences for full swimsuits, and for these two swimsuits, the Powerskin X-Glide Full® and the Jaked01 Full®
Biocompatibility and bioimaging potential of fruit-based carbon dots
Photo-luminescent carbon dots (CD) have become promising nanomaterials and their synthesis from natural products has attracted attention by the possibility of making the most of affordable, sustainable and, readily-available carbon sources. Here, we report on the synthesis, characterization and bioimaging potential of CDs produced from diverse extensively produced fruits: kiwi, avocado and pear. The in vitro cytotoxicity and anticancer potential of those CDs were assessed by comparing human epithelial cells from normal adult kidney and colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. In vivo toxicity was evaluated using zebrafish embryos given their peculiar embryogenesis, with transparent embryos developing ex-utero, allowing a real-time analysis. In vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that the synthesized CD presented toxicity only at concentrations of ≥1.5 mg mL−1. Kiwi CD exhibited the highest toxicity to both cells lines and zebrafish embryos, presenting lower LD50 values. Interestingly, despite inducing lower cytotoxicity in normal cells than the other CDs, black pepper CDs resulted in higher toxicity in vivo. The bio-distribution of CD in zebrafish embryos upon uptake was investigated using fluorescence microscopy. We observed a higher accumulation of CD in the eye and yolk sac, avocado CD being the ones more retained, indicating their potential usefulness in bio-imaging applications. This study shows the action of fruit-based CDs from kiwi, avocado and pear. However the compounds present in these fruit-based CDs and their mechanism of action as a bioimaging agent need to be further explored.N. Vasimalai and Marisa P Sárria acknowledge the financial support from the Marie Curie
COFUND Programme (NanoTRAINforGrowth). I. Pinheiro acknowledges the financial support from NanoDesk
project (SOE1/P1/E0215) co-financed by the Interreg SUDOE Programme through the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
The Stellar Content of Obscured Galactic Giant HII Regions V: G333.1--0.4
We present high angular resolution near--infrared images of the obscured
Galactic Giant HII (GHII) region G333.1--0.4 in which we detect an OB star
cluster. For G333.1--0.4, we find OB stars and other massive objects in very
early evolutionary stages, possibly still accreting. We obtained --band
spectra of three stars; two show O type photospheric features, while the third
has no photospheric features but does show CO 2.3 m band--head emission.
This object is at least as hot as an early B type star based on its intrinsic
luminosity and is surrounded by a circumstellar disc/envelope which produces
near infrared excess emission. A number of other relatively bright cluster
members also display excess emission in the --band, indicative of
disks/envelopes around young massive stars. Based upon the O star photometry
and spectroscopy, the distance to the cluster is 2.6 0.4 kpc, similar to
a recently derived kinematic (near side) value. The slope of the --band
luminosity function is similar to those found in other young clusters. The mass
function slope is more uncertain, and we find - for stars with M M where the upper an lower limits are
calculated independently for different assumptions regarding the excess
emission of the individual massive stars. The number of Lyman continuum photons
derived from the contribution of all massive stars in the cluster is 0.2
. The
integrated cluster mass is 1.0
.Comment: 31 pages, including 12 figures and 3 tables. Accepted for publication
in the A
Assessment of time limit at lowest speed corresponding to maximal oxygen consumption in the four competitive swimming strokes
Time limit at lowest speed of maximal oxygen consumption
(TLim-v O2max) was characterized in the 4 swimming strokes,
and related with O2max and anaerobic threshold (AnT). 23
elite swimmers performed an incremental protocol for v
O2max assessment. 48 hours later, Tlim-v O2max was
assessed. O2 was directly measured BxB (K4 b2, Cosmed,
Italy) and AnT was assessed individually (YSI 1500L Sport,
USA). Tlim-v O2max values were 238.8±39.0, 246.1±51.9,
277.6±85.6 and 331.4±82.7 s in crawl, backstroke, butterfly,
and breaststroke (no differences observed). No correlations
were found between Tlim-v O2max and O2max, and AnT.
However, inverse relationships were observed between Tlim-v
O2max and v O2max (r=-0.63, p<0.01) and vAnT (r=-0.52,
p=0.01), pointing out that the higher the velocities commonly
related to aerobic proficiency, the lower the TLim- v O2max
- …