Serverless computing

Serverless computing has emerged as a new mindset when it comes to cloud computing, promising efficient resource utilization, automatic scaling, and cost optimization for a wide range of applications. This thesis explores the adoption, performance, and cost considera tions of deploying applications that use intend to use serverless functions, one of the leading Serverless types. This thesis starts by providing an overview of Serverless computing, including its key advan tages and disadvantages and the rising adoption it has gained throughout the recent years. It presents a comprehensive comparison of various Serverless platforms and discusses the unique features offered by each. After this context phase, this thesis presents a design section composed by a migration guide that allows developers to transition from a traditional application to one that takes advan tage of serverless benefits. The guide outlines best practices and step-by-step instructions, facilitating the adoption of Serverless computing in real-world scenarios. Using the previously created guide, the next section carries out a practical use case: the mi gration of complex computational logic from a traditional Java application to AWS Lambda functions. Performance evaluations are conducted, considering metrics such as the execution duration and the amount of concurrent executions. These findings are then evaluated next to the costs associated with deploying and running Java applications in a virtual machine or with a Serverless architecture. While Serverless computing is quite promising, networking issues often arise in practice, affecting the overall efficiency of Serverless applications. This thesis addresses these chal lenges, identifying the installation and migration difficulties, how to overcome them, and what are the expected limitations, while proposing potential solutions. In summary, this thesis offers valuable insights into the adoption, performance, and cost opti mization of Serverless computing for Java applications. It provides a roadmap for developers looking to take advantage of the benefits of Serverless computing in their projects

Learning roadmap studio : new approaches and strategies for efficient learning and training processes

Learning systems have emerged in a set of different information systems, oriented for different kinds of organizations and institutions, such as learning management systems, knowledge management systems and learning content management systems, which can be integrated or merged with others. From past experience, it has been denoted that strategies and pedagogical processes are tasks that can be created, enriched and boosted by actors who participate in learning and training processes: course managers, teachers and students. The challenge posed to the different actors involved also accelerates the changes that have been happening in education and training, empowering a society based on knowledge. Initiatives such as eLearning (EU Comission 2000), eLearningEurope, eTwinning and Education Observatories are an evidence of this challenge. Platforms, applications, tools and systems must respond to challenges that those actors face nowadays: heterogeneous target audiences, in terms of student profiles, number of participants, differentiated contents and schedules to achieve knowledge, outcomes and competences. Thus, a prototype application, named Learning Roadmap Studio (LRMS), has been developed and deployed at Aveiro Norte Polytechnic School of the University of Aveiro, in order to suppress gaps in learning processes and to power better learning and training. It represents a new challenge for the University of Aveiro for higher education and is already being tested. At its core is the concept of “learning roadmaps” that act upon two fundamental axes: education and learning. For the teachers, it aims at becoming a self-supporting tool that stimulates the organization and management of the course materials (lectures, presentations, multimedia content, and evaluation materials, amongst others). For the students, the learning roadmap aims at promoting self-study and supervised study, endowing the pupil with the capabilities to find the relevant information and to capture the concepts in the study materials. The outcome will be a stimulating learning process together with an organized management of those materials. It is not intended to create new learning management systems. Instead, it is presented as an application that enables the edition and creation of learning processes and strategies, giving primary relevance to teachers, instead of focusing on tools, features and contents

Recomendações para a incorporação de agregados resultantes de RCD em betões de ligantes hidráulicos – Um contributo

Neste artigo apresentam-se recomendações técnicas gerais, com base nos resultados obtidos no âmbito do projeto de investigação “30307 – MULTIVALOR RCD – Otimização do Processo de Valorização de Resíduos de Construção e Demolição por Caracterização Mecânica, Física, Química e Ambiental”. As recomendações aqui apresentadas são relativas às medidas necessárias para incorporar os agregados resultantes de RCD em betões de ligantes hidráulicos. Pretende-se contribuir para a criação de condições mais favoráveis para a produção de agregados reciclados comerciáveis, respeitando os requisitos da regulamentação europeia em vigor. Procura-se assim produzir agregados reciclados que conduzam a betões mais sustentáveis e que ao mesmo tempo apresentem características de estabilidade, deformabilidade e durabilidade aceitáveis. O trabalho desenvolvido no âmbito do projeto permitiu identificar oportunidades de melhoria em todas as fases. Nomeadamente na fase de demolição, processamento e armazenamento, assim como na fase de produção do betão a partir das características intrínsecas dos agregados reciclados. São ainda apresentadas reflexões para a prescrição do betão com agregados reciclados em fase de projeto.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Demographic dividend: evidence from Portugal at a regional level

Dissertação de mestrado em EconomiaCom as recentes diminuições das taxas de natalidade e mortalidade, o mundo vive agora um novo fenómeno, ainda que em ritmos e momentos diferentes, conhecido como dividendo demográfico, em que a economia recebe os benefícios de um impulso devido às mudanças na estrutura etária da população e rácios de dependência. Este dividendo foi nomeado por David Bloom e David Canning para explicar o impulso originado por mudanças na estrutura etária da população de um país e que influencia o seu crescimento económico no curto e longo prazo. Apesar de este tema ser relativamente recente, há um grande debate sobre como este dividendo afeta o crescimento económico de um país ou região, e quais são os principais fatores que influenciam a existência e a significância desse mesmo dividendo. Enquanto alguns autores consideram que o dividendo demográfico é puramente um efeito contábil, outros consideram que a educação tem um grande papel nesse impulso económico. Assim, neste artigo, eu estudo o impacto do dividendo demográfico em Portugal e também a nível regional, de forma a não só avaliar o seu estado atual e quais as variáveis que têm maior impacto, mas também comparar possíveis diferenças entre as regiões. Para isso, foi construído um conjunto de dados em painel com dados do INE e dos censos portugueses de 2001 e 2011, seguindo uma divisão territorial NUTS III de 2002. Foram estabelecidas múltiplas regressões, onde a variável dependente é o Produto Interno Bruto (PIB) português per capita por localização geográfica (NUTS III), de forma a tentar explicar a ligação entre o dividendo demográfico e outras variáveis demográficas com os níveis de rendimento em Portugal. Adicionalmente, variáveis dummy para cada região foram adicionadas a um modelo final e interagirdas com o correspondente efeito do dividendo demográfico, para tentar captar possíveis diferenças entre as regiões portuguesas. Os resultados finais parecem sugerir uma relação positiva entre dividendo demográfico e crescimento económico e também uma possível tendência para áreas mais costeiras do país. No entanto, o período deste estudo é relativamente curto, portanto, trabalhos futuros podem ser realizados assim que mais dados estiverem disponíveis para serem adicionados ao âmbito desta análise.With the recent decreases of the birth and death rates, the world has now experienced a new phenomenon, even if at different paces and moments, known as demographic dividend, in which the economy receives the benefits of a boost due to changes in the population’s age structure and dependency ratios. This dividend was named by David Bloom and David Canning to explain the boost originated by changes in a country’s population age structure and that influences its economic growth in the short and long run. Despite this topic being relatively recent, there is a lot of debate related to how this dividend affects the economic growth of a country or region, and which are the main factors that influence the existence and significance of this dividend. While some authors consider that the demographic dividend is purely an accounting effect, others consider that the education has a big role in this economic boost. Thus, in this paper, I study the impact of demographic dividend in Portugal and also at a regional level, in order to not only assess its current state and what variables have the biggest impact but also compare possible differences between regions. For it, a panel data set was constructed with data from INE and the portuguese census of 2001 and 2011, following a NUTS III territorial divison from 2002. Multiple regressions were set, where the dependent variable is the Portuguese Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita by geographic location (NUTS III), in order to attempt to explain the link between demographic dividend and other demographic variables with the income levels in Portugal. Additionally, dummy variables for each region were added to a final model and interacted to the correspondent demographic dividend effect, to try to capture possible differences between Portuguese regions. The final results seem to suggest a positive relationship between demographic dividend and economic growth and also a possible trend for more coastal areas of the country. Nevertheless, the period in this study is relatively short, so future work can be done once more data is available to be added to the scope of this analysis

Study of OCDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8–HPCDD, 1,2,3,6,7,8-HXCDD and 1,2,3,7,8-PECDD congeners of dioxin absorption in poultry

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências Veterinárias na Especialidade de Segurança AlimentarThis thesis concerns a study which has integrated four main lines of investigation converging to a main goal – to contribute to the risk management of food crisis resulting from the contamination of the poultry chain with dioxins. Specifically, it includes: the development of a suitable analytical methodology to detect and quantify dioxins congeners in wood matrix; a study of the contaminant of biocides used for industrial wood treatments, the analyses of the pathway on how the contaminations are maintained and transferred throughout the poultry production chain in terms of level of contamination and respective chemical speciation and also depletion of the dioxins from poultry during production. The study of the dioxin contamination of different industrial wood preservatives, allowed to establish a clear correlation with the contamination profile of poultry and the previous contamination profile incidents found in wood shavings used as poultry litter. The study of the analytical methodology for wood shavings, adapted from the 1613B EPA method, showed recovery rates of labelled compounds ranging between 71.3% and 86.3%. These rates are considered acceptable, considering the reference method and also the criteria stated in the European Union legislation, for both food and feed. The study of contamination fingerprint along the poultry chain, allows to establish the relationship with the wood shavings, identified as the source of the dioxins. In muscle samples of poultry, the average concentration of OCDD was about 50% lower when compared to the profile of the wood shaving samples. On the other hand, the average relative concentration of 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD, 1,2,3,6,7,8-HxCDD and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD in poultry muscle samples was 50% higher when compared to the litters. These findings suggest the existence of a transformation in vivo of the most chlorinated congeners. The study of depletion of dioxins in a holding of ducks presented an average daily depletion rate ranging between 1.43% and 4.35%, showing a clear reduction of contamination after the removal of the source of contamination. The depletion rates are factors that must be taken in consideration to assess risk and, indirectly, helpful to manage risk of dioxins in food.RESUMO - Os trabalhos experimentais que integram esta tese tiveram como objetivo principal, a integração de quatro linhas de investigação tendo em vista a obtenção de conhecimentos capazes de contribuir para uma caracterização fundamentada do risco e a subsequente gestão de risco nas crises alimentares resultantes da contaminação da cadeia avícola com dioxinas. Os dados utilizados no desenvolvimento deste trabalho foram recolhidos na sequência de três incidentes de contaminação da cadeia avícola com dioxinas, ocorridos em 2006, 2011e 2016 em Portugal e serviram de base para a realização de uma análise forense para encontrar a fonte de contaminação. Estes trabalhos permitiram identificar claramente, em cenário real, a fonte da contaminação das aves nos incidentes ocorridos em Portugal em 2006, 2011 e 2016, tendo sido possível estabelecer uma clara relação das aparas de madeira como sendo o veículo ambiental das dioxinas. Esta conclusão é baseada na consistência dos resultados obtidos em todos os materiais testados que foram considerados potenciais fontes de contaminação, bem como, pela análise dos perfis da concentração relativa, “impressão digital”, dos 17 congéneres de dioxinas. Pode afirmar-se que as fontes incomuns de contaminação da cadeia alimentar por dioxinas devem ser sempre colocadas em perspetiva quando o incidente não é afiliado nas fontes mais comuns, como a dieta (rações e água). Nesse contexto, procedeu-se ao desenvolvimento de uma metodologia analítica especialmente adaptada à deteção e quantificação de congéneres de dioxinas em matrizes lenhosas (madeira); ao estudo das contaminações com estes compostos tóxicos no setor do tratamento industrial das madeiras e à avaliação da forma como as referidas contaminações são mantidas e transferidas ao longo da cadeia avícola, quer em termos quantitativos, quer quanto à respectiva especiação química e ainda à forma como é feita a depleção destes contaminantes do organismo em aves de capoeira. [...]N/

Social selling strategies in the IT industry

CEMSThe present work project provides research and conclusions over three main topics related to social selling strategies in the IT industry being those 1) internal and external social selling best practices; 2) the best countries and industries to invest in social selling activities; and 3) the measurement of the ROI for social selling. A mixed approach is taken being both primary research (in-depth interviews and questionnaires) and secondary research used. Some evidence of the benefit of investing in social selling as well as recommendations regarding countries, industries and ROI are provided

An integrated formal methods tool-chain and its application to verifying a file system model

Tool interoperability as a mean to achieve integration is among the main goals of the international Grand Challenge initiative. In the context of the Verifiable file system mini-challenge put forward by Rajeev Joshi and Gerard Holzmann, this paper focuses on the integration of different formal methods and tools in modelling and verifying an abstract file system inspired by the Intel (R) Flash File System Core. We combine high-level manual specification and proofs with current state of the art mechanical verification tools into a tool-chain which involves Alloy, VDM++ and HOL. The use of (pointfree) relation modelling provides the glue which binds these tools together.Mondrian Project funded by the Portuguese NSF under contract PTDC/EIA-CCO/108302/200

Alloy meets the algebra of programming: a case study

Relational algebra offers to software engineering the same degree of conciseness and calculational power as linear algebra in other engineering disciplines. Binary relations play the role of matrices with similar emphasis on multiplication and transposition. This matches with Alloy’s lemma “everything is a relation” and with the relational basis of the Algebra of Programming (AoP). Altogether, it provides a simple and coherent approach to checking and calculating programs from abstract models. In this paper, we put Alloy and the Algebra of Programming together in a case study originating from the Verifiable File System mini-challenge put forward by Joshi and Holzmann: verifying the refinement of an abstract file store model into a journaled (FLASH) data model catering to wear leveling and recovery from power loss. Our approach relies on diagrams to graphically express typed assertions. It interweaves model checking (in Alloy) with calculational proofs in a way which offers the best of both worlds. This provides ample evidence of the positive impact in software verification of Alloy’s focus on relations, complemented by induction-free proofs about data structures such as stores and lists.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Social Entrepreneurship and the Role of Universities - A rationale for guiding social entrepreneur coaching along the social business development process

Taking advantage of entrepreneurial talent seems to be of paramount importance for economic development and all over the world plans have been designed to achieve this endeavour. Research involving students at various levels of education and in various courses has been performed by academics worldwide. Empirical studies however have been mostly concentrated on undergraduate students’ intents. Postgraduate student analyses are rare but needed given the widespread fears of unemployment and increasing dissatisfaction with employment at this level. Social entrepreneurship in particular is an area of inquiry which is still in its infancy. Based upon Weerawardena and Mort’s (2006) multidimensional model of social entrepreneurship: SVC = f (I, P, RM) subject to S, SM, E Where SVC: social value creation; I: innovativeness; P: proactiveness; RM: risk management; S: Sustainability; SM – social mission; E: environment We provide a rationale for guiding social entrepreneur coaching along the social business development process at the postgraduate level

Large scale comparative genomics of codon context

The efficiency of protein synthesis is highly dependent on codon usage and codon context. Indeed, the choice of particular synonymous codons is constrained by neighbour codons (codon context) to optimize mRNA decoding speed and accuracy. This is related to spatial (steric) effects created by the need to accommodate 3 tRNAs in the ribosome A-, P- and E-sites. Since these tRNAs interact with each other, with their cognate codons and with various structural domains of rRNAs, the structure of the 6 nucleotide RNA helix formed by the anticodon-codon interactions is strongly int1uenced by the type of codons and tRNAs present in the ribosome decoding centre. To ensure proper tRNA selection and correct codon decoding the rRNA monitors the structure of the codon-anticodon RNA helix. We hypothesized that large scale comparative analysis of 3 consecutive codons, corresponding to the ribosome A-, P- and E-sites codons, would unveil novel codon biases and "bad" codon combinations that are error prone. For this, we have built a software package that counts codon triplets in complete assemblies of open reading frames (ORFeomes) and used the ORFeome sequences of 12 fungal species, including Aspergillus fumigatus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Candida albicans to validate our working hypothesis. We have used data mining methodologies to explore this large dataset of 220,000 combinations of 3 consecutive codons, and extracted the most biased contexts. The data showed that three-codon contexts are species-specific, although major context rules could also be found. Interestingly, biases introduced at DNA replication and transcription levels, namely trinucleotide repeats, play an important role in the evolution of ORFeomes. Candida albicans revealed unique features and very strong context biases. For example, codon triplet biases is much stronger in C. albicans than in other species and it has a very high number of consecutive codon repeats, which comprise up to 6% of the total ORFeom