Otimização de rotas na recolha de resíduos urbanos : estudo de um caso real

Mestrado em Decisão Económica e EmpresarialNeste projeto desenvolveu-se uma heurística construtiva com o objetivo de determinar novas rotas para a recolha porta a porta de resíduos urbanos no Seixal. Esta foi implementada computacionalmente, com recurso à linguagem de programação Visual Basic For Applications do Excel. O problema foi formulado em programação linear inteira, numa tentativa de melhor o relacionar com problemas conhecidos da literatura. O problema em questão enquadra-se num Problema com Procura nos Arcos, mais precisamente num Problema com Restrições de Capacidade. Pretendem-se otimizar as rotas existentes, de modo a diminuir a duração dos circuitos, respeitando um tempo limite conhecido. O circuito de menor dimensão contém 44 nodos e 98 ligações, tendo o maior 168 nodos e 389 ligações dispersas em duas redes de procura. No geral, verificam-se bons resultados com decréscimos da duração dos circuitos entre 39 e 133 minutos.In this project a constructive heuristic, with the objective of determining new routes to the household waste collection in Seixal, was developed. The method was implemented computationally using the Visual Basic for Applications/ Excel programming language. The problem is formulated as an integer linear programming model, in order to better relate it with known problems from the literature. The problem fits on an Arc Routing Problem, more precisely on a Capacitated Arc Routing Problem. Its aim is to optimize the existing routes in order to decrease the routes duration, within a given time limit. The routes dimensions vary between 44 and 168 nodes, and 98 to 389 links. The biggest contains two demand networks. Overall, the heuristic provides good results with reductions on the total time from 39 to 133 minutes

Stress, anxiety, and depression trajectories during the “first wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic: what drives resilient, adaptive and maladaptive responses in the Portuguese population?

IntroductionThe COVID-19 outbreak and the community mitigation strategies implemented to reduce new SARS-CoV-2 infections can be regarded as powerful stressors with negative consequences on people's mental health. Although it has been shown that negative emotional symptoms subside during lockdown, it is likely the existence of inter-individual differences in stress, anxiety and depression trajectories throughout lockdown.ObjectivesWe aimed to cluster participants' according to their trajectories of stress, anxiety and depression scores throughout lockdown, and identify the sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors that may distinguish the subjects included in the different clusters.MethodsFrom March 23, 2020, to May 31, 2020, participants completed weekly online questionnaires on sociodemographic information (age, sex, education level, and employment status), psychological functioning (DASS-21, NEO-FFI-20), and clinical data (psychiatric disorders, psychiatric medication, physical disorders). Data regarding smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and time spent daily looking for COVID-19-related information were also collected. Stress, anxiety and depression trajectories were determined using latent class mixed models.ResultsA total of 2040 participants answered the survey at baseline and 603 participants answered all surveys. Three groups (“Resilient,” “Recovered,” and “Maladaptive”) with distinct mental health trajectories were identified. Younger participants, women, participants with lower education level, not working, studying, diagnosed with a mental disorder, taking psychiatric medication, smokers, those who spent more time consuming COVID-19-related information and those with higher neuroticism tended to cluster in the “Maladaptive” group, placing them at higher risk of persistent negative emotional symptoms during compulsory confinement.ConclusionAccordingly, a tailored approach to emotional suffering for vulnerable subjects during the COVID-19 and future pandemics must be devised

A standardized protocol for blood and cerebrospinal fluid collection and processing for biomarker research in ataxia

The European Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3/Machado-Joseph Disease Initiative (ESMI) is a consortium established with the ambition to set up the largest European longitudinal trial-ready cohort of Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3/Machado Joseph disease (SCA3/MJD), the most common autosomal dominantly inherited ataxia worldwide. A major focus of ESMI has been the identification of SCA3/MJD biomarkers to enable future interventional studies. As biosample collection and processing variables significantly impact the outcomes of biomarkers studies, biosampling procedures standardization was done previously to study visit initiation. Here, we describe the ESMI consensus biosampling protocol, developed within the scope of ESMI, that ultimately might be translated to other neurodegenerative disorders, particularly ataxias, being the first step to protocol harmonization in the field

Práticas artísticas no ensino básico e secundário

O crescimento carece de uma pedagogia, e educar é ao mesmo tempo algo de muito antigo, e de muito diferente. Neste ensejo, assinalam-se dois polos: o professor, os alunos. Mas a educação faz-se num contexto social, cultural, tecnológico, ambiental. Sobre isto conhecem-se alguns pontos de fixação que tornam a educação mais consequente e humanista. A Matéria-Prima, na Educação Artística, é exatamente o que parece: os materiais à espera de serem utilizados, os processos experimentados, as vivências significadas e sentidas. O professor de artes tem uma grande possibilidade de diferença.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL : A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in P ortugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with 26% of all species being includedin the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associatedwith habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mam-mals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion formarine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems func-tionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is cru-cial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS INPORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublishedgeoreferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mam-mals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira thatincludes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occur-ring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live obser-vations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%),bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent lessthan 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrowsjsoil moundsjtunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animaljhairjskullsjjaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8),observation in shelters, (9) photo trappingjvideo, (10) predators dietjpelletsjpine cones/nuts, (11) scatjtrackjditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalizationjecholocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followedby Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496),Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data setincludes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened(e.g.,Oryctolagus cuniculus[n=12,159],Monachus monachus[n=1,512],andLynx pardinus[n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate thepublication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contrib-ute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting onthe development of more accurate and tailored conservation managementstrategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite thisdata paper when the data are used in publications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mammals in Portugal: a data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n =31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,857), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n = 12,159], Monachus monachus [n = 1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n = 197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications

Data_Sheet_1_Stress, anxiety, and depression trajectories during the “first wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic: what drives resilient, adaptive and maladaptive responses in the Portuguese population?.PDF

IntroductionThe COVID-19 outbreak and the community mitigation strategies implemented to reduce new SARS-CoV-2 infections can be regarded as powerful stressors with negative consequences on people's mental health. Although it has been shown that negative emotional symptoms subside during lockdown, it is likely the existence of inter-individual differences in stress, anxiety and depression trajectories throughout lockdown.ObjectivesWe aimed to cluster participants' according to their trajectories of stress, anxiety and depression scores throughout lockdown, and identify the sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors that may distinguish the subjects included in the different clusters.MethodsFrom March 23, 2020, to May 31, 2020, participants completed weekly online questionnaires on sociodemographic information (age, sex, education level, and employment status), psychological functioning (DASS-21, NEO-FFI-20), and clinical data (psychiatric disorders, psychiatric medication, physical disorders). Data regarding smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and time spent daily looking for COVID-19-related information were also collected. Stress, anxiety and depression trajectories were determined using latent class mixed models.ResultsA total of 2040 participants answered the survey at baseline and 603 participants answered all surveys. Three groups (“Resilient,” “Recovered,” and “Maladaptive”) with distinct mental health trajectories were identified. Younger participants, women, participants with lower education level, not working, studying, diagnosed with a mental disorder, taking psychiatric medication, smokers, those who spent more time consuming COVID-19-related information and those with higher neuroticism tended to cluster in the “Maladaptive” group, placing them at higher risk of persistent negative emotional symptoms during compulsory confinement.ConclusionAccordingly, a tailored approach to emotional suffering for vulnerable subjects during the COVID-19 and future pandemics must be devised.</p

A standardised protocol for blood and cerebrospinal fluid collection and processing for biomarker research in ataxi

The European Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3/Machado-Joseph Disease Initiative (ESMI) is a consortium established with the ambition to set up the largest European longitudinal trial-ready cohort of Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3/Machado-Joseph Disease (SCA3/MJD), the most common autosomal dominantly inherited ataxia worldwide. A major focus of ESMI has been the identification of SCA3/MJD biomarkers to enable future interventional studies. As biosample collection and processing variables significantly impact the outcomes of biomarkers studies, biosampling procedures standardisation was done previously to study visit initiation. Here, we describe the ESMI consensus biosampling protocol, developed within the scope of ESMI, that ultimately might be translated to other neurodegenerative disorders, particularly ataxias, being the first step to protocol harmonisation in the fieldFunding. This project was supported by the EU Joint Programme—Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) through the following funding organisations under the aegis of JPND: Portugal, Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, grant number JPCOFUND/0001/2015)and Regional Fund for Science and Technology of the Azores;Germany, Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; funding codes 01ED1602A/B); Netherlands, The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development; United Kingdom, Medical Research Council. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 643417. In addition, support has been received by the ERDF through the Regional Operational Program Center 2020, Competitiveness Factors Operational Program (COMPETE 2020, POCI) and National Funds through FCT [BrainHealth2020(CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000008), UID/NEU/04539/2019–2021,BD for MJD (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-181240), ViraVector (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-022095), Spread Silencing (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029716)], and by the National Ataxia Foundation (USA), the American Portuguese Biomedical Research Fund (APBRF) and the Richard Chin and Lily Lock Machado-Joseph Disease Research Fund.MR (CEECIND/03018/2018), AFF (SFRH/BD/121101/2016), LG(PD/BD/135497/2018) and PS (SFRH/BD/148451/2019) are supported by FCT. PG is supported by the National Institute for Health Research University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre UCLH. PG receives also support from the North Thames CRN.PG and HGM, work at University College London Hospitals/University College London, which receives a proportion of funding from the Department of Health’s National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre’s funding scheme. PG received funding from CureSCA3 in support of HGM work

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved