Business plan: Step

This project has the goal of creating a business plan to verify the economic viability of the creation of a blockchain-based social media platform that helps users to combat procrastination on diverse activities. Procrastination has been a part of human existence for centuries and it happens mainly because we want to avoid negative moods. With the emergence of new technologies, a case can be made that this phenomenon has increased as we have millions of contents to choose from, that we can access in a very easy way, as all we have to do is reach in our pockets and unlock our smartphones. Decision paralysis, no social pressure, uncertainty of what to do are just some of the reasons that lead us to procrastinate. Step will be the social media platform that contributes to its user’s awareness of long-term procrastination effects and that helps them tackle it using positive reinforcement methods such as a token economy. In this paper, you will find: A thorough research of the literature on these topics; An explanation of the method used to validate the business idea; A contextual analysis to the companies’ environment and its industry; A brief explanation of how the social media platform will be structured and on its business model; An internal and competitive analysis; An implementation plan on Marketing and Operations. To finalize, a financial analysis will be done to check the viability of the project within its first 5 years of activity.Este projeto tem o objetivo de criar um plano de negócios para verificar a viabilidade econômica da criação de uma rede social baseada em blockchain que ajude os seus usuários a combater a procrastinação em diversas atividades. A procrastinação tem feito parte da existência humana há séculos e acontece principalmente porque queremos evitar humores negativos. Com o surgimento de novas tecnologias, pode-se comprovar que este fenômeno se intensificou, pois temos milhões de conteúdos à sua escolha, aos quais podemos aceder de uma forma muito fácil, pois basta desbloquear os nossos smartphones. Paralisia de decisão, ausência de pressão social e incerteza do que fazer são apenas alguns dos motivos que nos levam a procrastinar. A Step será uma rede social que contribui para a consciencialização do usuário sobre os efeitos da procrastinação de longo prazo e que os ajuda a enfrentá-la usando métodos de reforço positivo, como a economia de tokens. Neste artigo, irá encontrar: Uma pesquisa completa da literatura sobre todos estes diferentes tópicos; Uma explicação do método usado para validar a ideia de negócio; Uma análise contextual do ambiente da empresa e da sua indústria; Uma breve explicação de como a rede social será estruturada e o seu modelo de negócios; Uma análise interna e competitiva; Um plano de implementação em Marketing e Operações e, para finalizar, será feita uma análise financeira para verificar a viabilidade do projeto nos primeiros 5 anos de atividade

Some international evidence

From the very young to the very old, disease defines our roles in society and affects everyone. But medical care saves or extends lives. Because it (seems) to have some power over disease and retards or slows the rate of depreciation of an individual´s initial endowment of health, it is perceived very positively. Thus, as of 2015, individuals and populations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) area-countries spent approximately 9.0 percent of their incomes (as measured by GDP per capita) on health care—up from 8.3 percent in 2008. With national governments assuming an increasing share of these costs and pressures to spend more likely to continue, controlling this type of spending is a problem that all modern societies face and one which every country must grapple with. Therefore, this thesis begins with the questions: what factors are behind this push for more spending? And does government involvement in health care affect health care costs and spending? If so, how? Thus, to inform on what is ultimately a political decision, we looked at the determinants of health care expenditure growth in Portugal and a set of countries in the OECD area, taking into account the role of income, the share of publicly funded health care, ageing population, as well as technological progress. Although governments seem unable to control health care costs and spending, the results from Part One of our research (Chapters 2 and 3) suggest that the current trend of increasing health care expenditure is rooted in a set of differentiated factors. In Chapter 2, higher Portuguese income levels lead to higher health care expenditure, and the magnitude of the estimated elasticity poses some concern about long-term sustainability of current trends of spending. However, the income elasticity of health care expenditure not only depends on the level of analysis but also the range of income and economic development. For example, characteristics of a non-luxury good for health care have been found in Chapter 3, in the study examining the determinants of expenditure growth in a sample of OECD countries. This indicates that the delivery of health is determined according to needs, rather than responsiveness to income changes, and thus warrants greater public involvement in the provision and financing of health care. In addition, our main results confirm that the growth in numbers of the elderly and the development of new medical technologies are determining factors of current health expenditure growth, and these may not be easily compressed if not through rationing. Besides informing on the factors that are behind the push for health care expenditure growth, this thesis also looks at the socio-economic determinants of health, particularly how government involvement in health care and social protection programs may lead to better health care outcomes. Although publicly funded health care spending seems to have very little impact on all-cause and cause-specific mortality rates, the results of our investigation indicate that other factors (such as, for example, higher levels of income and publicly funded welfare spending, as well as advances in new medical technologies, do significantly influence the overall health status and well-being of a country´s population. Thus, while using data from the European Union for a period that leads up to, and coincided with the ongoing recession (2008-2013), the evidence emerging from Part Two (Chapters 4, 5 and 6) of our research suggests that when it comes to protecting population health, the results are that social welfare spending is as relevant, if not more so, than public health spending in moderating increased vulnerabilities to adverse economic shocks, especially among younger males and females, the poor and their children, and should be accounted for in future inquiry into the determinants of aggregate population health.A doença afecta todos os indivíduos, independentemente da faixa etária, e é definidora do nosso papel na sociedade. Contudo, os cuidados de saúde salvam e/ou prolongam vidas. Assim, porque parecem ter algum poder para inverter (ou retardar) o ritmo de envelhecimento (i.e., ritmo de desgaste individual da dotação inicial de saúde e bem-estar), estes são sobejamente valorizada. Neste sentido, em 2015, os países membros da Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Economico (OCDE) despenderam aproximadamente 9.0 por cento do seu rendimento (medido em PIB per capita) em cuidados de saúde—um valor substancialmente acima dos 8.3 por cento gastos em 2008. Sendo que os governos nacionais têm vindo a assumir uma parte cada vez maior destes custos, o controle deste tipo de despesa é um problema que todas as sociedades modernas enfrentam e com o qual todos os países vão forçosamente ter de lidar. Visto estas considerações, esta tese começa por centra-se nas respostas ás perguntas seguintes: quais os factores capazes de fazer aumentar os gastos em saúde? Para além disso, em que sentido os gastos públicos na área da saúde afectam os custos e gastos nestes cuidados? Em caso afirmativo, como? Assim, para informar sobre um assunto que, em ultima analise, consta da esfera política, neste trabalho procura-se identificar as determinantes das despesas de cuidados de saúde em Portugal e num conjunto de países-membros da Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Economico (OCDE), tendo em conta o rendimento (PIB) per capita, a quota-parte do financiamento publico de cuidados de saúde, o envelhecimento da população, bem como os custos associados ao recurso a mais (e melhor) tecnologia. Para além de sugerir a irrelevância da variável publica na determinação da despesa e custos de cuidados de saúde, os resultados que se depreendem da primeira parte deste trabalho (Capítulos 2 e 3) sugerem que a actual tendência de aumento destes tem como raiz um conjunto de factores diferenciados. Para Portugal (Capitulo 2), valores mais elevados de rendimento levam a um aumento de despesas e custos de saúde. Mais ainda, a magnitude estimada da elasticidade-rendimento em relação a estas despesas e custos força alguma preocupação sobre a sustentabilidade a longo prazo das tendências actuais destes gastos. No entanto, a elasticidade-rendimento em relação a estas despesas e custos não só depende do pormenor de analise sobre o qual olhamos cada país, mas também o respectivo nível de rendimento e grau de desenvolvimento económico.Por exemplo, no Capitulo 3, que analisa as determinantes do crescimento dos custos e despesas de saúde para um grupo de países membros da Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Economico (OCDE), determina-se uma elasticidade-rendimento em relação a estes cuidados inferior a um, sugerido assim uma certa insensibilidade da procura de bens e serviços de saúde face a aumentos de rendimento. Este resultado não só indica que a procura de cuidados de saúde é determinada de acordo com as necessidades—em vez das capacidades de resposta a alterações de rendimento—mas também apela a um maior envolvimento público na prestação e financiamento destes cuidados de saúde. Além disso, os resultados são também indicativos de que o crescimento do número de idosos e o recurso a mais (e melhor) tecnologia são factores determinantes do actual crescimento das despesas de saúde e estas dificilmente poderão ser comprimidas, a não ser através do seu racionamento. Para além de informar sobre os factores capazes de influenciar o aumento de crescimento dos custos e despesas de saúde, esta tese também analisa os factores capazes de influenciar a saúde e bem-estar, particularmente como e em que sentido o investimento publico em programas de protecção social e cuidados de saúde afecta indivíduos e populações. Embora estes últimos pareçam ter pouco impacto sobre as mortes por “todas-as-causas” e as mortes por “causas-especificas” (tal como, por exemplo, suicídios), os resultados desta investigação indicam que outros factores (tais como, por exemplo, aumentos de rendimento e gastos públicos com medidas de protecção social, bem como o recurso a técnicas médicas mais avançadas) são factores potenciadores de saúde e bem-estar. Assim, a evidência que emerge dos Capitulos 4, 5 e 6, nos quais se analisa o efeito da actual crise económica (2008-2012) sobre a saúde das populações da União Europeia, indica que o investimento publico em programas de protecção social é tão relevante, se não mais, que os gastos públicos com a saúde, como forma de moderar os efeitos da crise económica sobre indivíduos e populações, especialmente entre os mais jovens, e os pobres e seus filhos, e devem ser assim incluídos em trabalhos futuros de investigação sobre os factores determinantes da saúde e bem-estar social

Auxetic materials and structures for potential defense applications: an overview and recent developments

Auxetic behavior is a promising new area for use in defense applications. In comparison to a conventional material, an auxetic material has superior properties because of having a negative Poisson’s ratio; it gets broadened when stretched or becomes smaller when compressed. Furthermore, auxetic materials have enhanced properties such as shear resistance, indentation resistance, fracture toughness, energy absorption, and so on. These improved properties make auxetic materials very appealing and have the potential to revolutionize their applications in aerospace, sports, auto motive, construction, biomedical engineering, smart sensors, packaging, cushioning, air filtration, shock absorption and sound insulation, and defense personal protective equipment. This article examines the most recent scientific advances in auxetic materials and structures, such as auxetic textiles (fibers, yarns, and fabrics), auxetic textile-reinforced composites, and auxetic foams, as well as their exceptional auxetic behavior and various approaches to achieving them. Although many potential applications have been proposed, actual applications of auxetic materials in defense are still limited. This is an in-depth review article, and its main goal is to serve as a foundation for future studies concerning the topic.The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors acknowledge for the financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through project UID/CTM/00264/2019 of 2C2T - Centro de Cieˆncia e Tecnologia Teˆxtil, by national funds of FCT/MCTES

Drug delivery systems for photodynamic therapy: the potentiality and versatility of electrospun nanofibers

Recently, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has become a promising approach for the treatment of a broad range of diseases, including oncological and infectious diseases. This minimally invasive and localized therapy is based on the production of reactive oxygen species able to destroy cancer cells and inactivate pathogens by combining the use of photosensitizers (PSs), light, and molecular oxygen. To overcome the drawbacks of drug systemic administration, drug delivery systems (DDS) can be used to carrier the PSs, allowing higher therapeutic efficacy and minimal toxicological effects. Polymeric nanofibers produced by electrospinning emerged as powerful platforms for drug delivery applications. Electrospun nanofibers exhibit outstanding characteristics, such as large surface-area-to-volume ratio associated with high drug loading, high porosity, flexibility, ability to incorporate and release a wide variety of therapeutic agents, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Due to the versatility of this technique, fibers with different morphologies and functionalities, including drug release profile can be produced. The possibility of scalability makes electrospinning even more attractive for the development of DDS. This review aims to explore and show an up to date of the huge potential of electrospun nanofibers as DDS for different PDT applications and discuss the opportunities and challenges in this field.The authors are thankful to project UID/CTM/00264/2021 of 2C2T – Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia Têxtil, funded by National Founds through FCT/MCTES- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. D.P.F. is thankful to CEECIND/02803/2017 and S.M.C. to the FCT PhD Scholarship (SFRH/BD/147517/2019), founded by National Founds through FCT/MCTES

The potential of graphene nanoplatelets in the development of smart and multifunctional ecocomposites

Graphene and its derivatives have shown outstanding potential in many fields and textile/composites industry are not an exception. Giving their extraordinary properties, Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNPs) are excellent candidates for providing new functionalities to fibers and composites. In this work, natural fabrics (flax) were functionalized with chitosan (CS) based polymeric formulations of GNPs to develop fibrous systems with electrical properties as well as other functionalities. One of the greatest disadvantages of using carbon-based materials for fabrics’ impregnation is their difficult dispersion. Therefore, several polymers were used as matrices, binding and dispersive agents including chitosan, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and glycerol. All the systems were characterized using several techniques that demonstrated the presence and incorporation of the GNPs onto the composites. Besides their characterization, considering their use as smart materials for monitoring and sensing applications, electrical properties were also evaluated. The highest value obtained for electrical conductivity was 0.04 S m−1 using 2% of GNPs. Furthermore, piezoresistive behavior was observed with Gauge Factor (GF) of 1.89 using 0.5% GNPs. Additionally, UV (ultraviolet) protection ability and hydrophobicity were analyzed, confirming the multifunctional behavior of the developed systems extending their potential of application in several areas.(CEECIND/02803/2017

Protective multifunctional fibrous systems based on natural fibers and metal oxide nanoparticles

In recent years, an unprecedented increase in the development of products and technologies to protect the human being has been observed. Now, more than ever, the world population is exposed to several threats, harmful to their well-being and health. Chemical and biological hazardous agents stand out as one of the biggest threats, not only for the military forces, but also for the civilians. Consequently, it’s essential to develop personal protective systems that are able to protect their user, not only passively, but actively, being able to detect, adsorb, degrade and decontaminate pesticides, pollutants, microorganisms and most importantly: chemical/biological warfare agents. One recent strategy for the development of active fibrous structures with improved functions and new properties is their functionalization with nanoparticles (NPs), especially metal oxides. Although their known effectiveness in the decomposition of harmful agents, the NPs could also include other functionalities in the same structure using low quantities of material, without adding extra weight, which is of huge importance for a soldier in the battlefield. The use of natural fibers as the substrate is also very interesting, since this material is a much sustainable alternative when compared to synthetic ones, also providing excellent properties.The authors are thankful to project UID/CTM/00264/2021 of 2C2T—Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia Têxtil, funded by National Founds through FCT/MCTES—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia D.P.F. is thankful to CEECIND/02803/2017 and J.C.A. to the FCT PhD Scholarship (SFRH/BD/147812/2019), founded by National Founds through FCT/MCTES

Non-simultaneous quenching in a system of heat equations coupled at the boundary

We study the solutions of a parabolic system of heat equations coupled at the boundary through a nonlinear flux. We characterize in terms of the parameters involved when nonsimultaneous quenching may appear. Moreover, if quenching is non-simultaneous we find the quenching rate, which surprisingly depends on the flux associated to the other component.Fil: Ferreira, Raúl. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; EspañaFil: de Pablo, Arturo. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; EspañaFil: Quirós, Fernando. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; EspañaFil: Rossi, Julio Daniel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Matemática; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

In-situ synthesis of CaO and SiO2 nanoparticles onto jute fabrics: exploring the multifunctionality

Fibrous based materials with exceptional functionalities have become a target of interest for researchers worldwide. One promising strategy for the development of active fibrous structures with improved functions is their functionalization with nanoparticles (NPs). In this work, jute fabrics were functionalized with calcium oxide (CaO) and silica (SiO2) NPs in order to obtain fibrous structures with several properties including, hydrophobicity, UV protection, antibacterial activity and the degradation of dyes ability. CaO and SiO2 NPs were synthesized via a simple in situ method, using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as the reducing agent and water as solvent. Parallelly, the in situ synthesis of the CaO NPs was also tested. The final systems were fully characterized using Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Ground-State Diffuse Reflectance and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy. All these techniques confirmed the successful synthesis of the NPs as well as their well distributed presence onto the fabrics. The samples exhibited very good contact angle values, reaching 143.7\textdegree for the fabrics functionalized with CaO and SiO2 NPs and great values of ultraviolet (UV) protection factors (UPF), reaching 50+ for the functionalized fabrics. The developed systems also exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli and photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue. The wash durability of the nanocoating was also evaluated, confirming that the SiO2 improved the NPs' anchorage onto the fabrics. Overall, this work presents for the first time, the development of jute fabrics with CaO--SiO2 NPs with several functionalities.The authors are thankful to project UID/CTM/00264/2019 of 2C2T—Centro de Ciêcia e Tecnologia Têxtil, funded by National Founds through FCT/MCTESFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, TSSiPRO project, operation code NORTE 01-0145-FEDER-000015, supported by the ‘‘Programa Operacional Regional do Norte’’ number NORTE-45-2015-02 and to the FCT PhD Scholarship (SFRH/BD/147812/2019) of Joana Araújo. Diana Ferreira is thankful to CEECIND/02803/2017. Pilar Teixeira is also thankful to FCT, under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Una metodología de posicionamiento cooperativo diferencial para el posicionamiento de dispositivos múltiples

Introduction: This publication is the product of research developed within the research lines of the Advanced and Large-scale Computing (Cage) research group throughout 2018, which supports the work of a master’s degree in Systems Engineering at the Industrial University of Santander. Objetive: An approach to a cooperative positioning algorithm is described in this paper, where a set of devices exchange GPS satellite observables and distance estimations with nearby devices in order to increase their positioning accuracy. Methodology: Different scenarios are established where GPS receivers exchange satellite information, using different ionospheric correction models, with the purpose of evaluating which conditions potentially improve the position accuracy. Conclusions: The results show our approach yields increased accuracy when all receivers use the same ionospheric correction model. Moreover, it was observed that the noise levels and uncertainty usually due to factors related to distance from remote devices to the main receiver did not influence positioning improvement when the separation between receiver pairs was large. Originality: The proposed algorithm allows for exploitation of the nature of the problem without increasing complexity at the hardware and software level, and to offer a low-cost cooperative positioning solution alternative. Restrictions: The results presented in the document are based on the execution of the cooperative algorithm using Rinex files of gnss reference stations. So, for scenarios in which the separation distances between reference stations are very high, the error levels in cooperative positioning can be very large.Introducción: esta publicación es el producto de una investigación del grupo de investigación de computación avanzada y en gran escala (Cage) de la Universidad Industrial de Santander, a lo largo de 2018. Objetivo: Se propone un algoritmo de posicionamiento cooperativo en el que un conjunto de dispositivos intercambia observables satelitales, y estimaciones de distancia entre dispositivos GPS cercanos, con el objetivo de aumentar su precisión de posicionamiento. Metodología: se establecen escenarios donde los receptores de GPS intercambian información satelital, y utilizan diferentes modelos de corrección ionosférica con el fin de evaluar las condiciones en que es posible mejorar la precisión en posicionamiento. Conclusiones: El algoritmo propuesto produce una mayor precisión cuando todos los receptores emplean el mismo modelo de corrección ionosférica. Además, el nivel de incertidumbre en la medida de distancia entre dispositivos no presenta mayor influencia sobre la mejora de la precisión, cuando la separación entre receptores es muy grande. Originalidad: el algoritmo propuesto permite explotar la naturaleza del problema sin aumentar la complejidad a nivel de hardware y software, y se ofrece como una alternativa de solución de posicionamiento cooperativo de bajo costo. Limitación: Los resultados exponen la ejecución del algoritmo cooperativo utilizando archivos Rinex de estaciones de referencia gnss. Por lo tanto, para los escenarios en que la distancia de separación entre estaciones es muy alta, los niveles de error en posicionamiento pueden ser elevados