Digital Inclusion for Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

The Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a syndrome characterized by distraction, impulsivity, forgetfulness and disorganization. The diagnosis requires considerable care and experience. There are multiples approaches to treatments available, which can be used in combination to meet specific needs. In the academic field, virtual learning environment emerges as a watershed in the life and destiny of students who suffer from the disorder. The objective of this study is to promote digital inclusion for students with ADHD, through a virtual learning environment, in web platform, which will provide tools able to attract attention and stimulate interest in academic activities, aiming to generate significant changes in the process of student development

Influence of inoculum, particle size and inoculum-substrate ratio on CH4 production from Ulex sp.

The performance of Anaerobic Digestion (AD) of solids wastes is affected by several factors. Most of them are related to each other. Currently, publish studies about AD only care about the individual influence of these variables, discarding possible interaction. A response surface experimental design was used to determine the most important variables and possible interactions – influence of inoculum type (anaerobic suspended sludge and granula sludge), Ulex sp. particle diameter (dp) and inoculum to substrate ratio (ISR) – on the Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) and the maximum initial methane production rate (k). BMP and k of Ulex sp. varied between 153-308 L CH4 kg-1 VS and 14-49 L CH4 kg-1 VS d-1, respectively. Higher ISR and a mixture of granular and suspended sludge had a positive effect on the biodegradability of waste. A dp of 1.85 mm were defined as the optimal condition to simultaneously maximize the BMP and k

Co-digestion of Sargassum sp. with glycerol and waste frying oil following a design of experiments

A response surface methodology was adopted to assess the optimal conditions for methane production from the macroalgae Sargassum sp. co-digested with glycerol (Gly) and waste frying oil (WFO). Three variables were tested: % total solids of algae (%TSSargassum sp.), co-substrate concentration (gGly/WFO L-1); and, co-substrate type (Gly or WFO). The Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) of Sargassum sp. was 181±1 L CH4 kg-1 COD. The co-digestion with Gly and WFO increased the BMP by 56% and 46%, respectively. The methane production rate (k), showed similar behaviour as the BMP, increasing 38% and 19% with Gly and WFO, respectively. The higher BMP (283±18 L CH4 kg-1 COD) and k (65.9±2.1 L CH4 kg-1 COD d-1) was obtained in the assay with 0.5% TS and 3.0 gGly L-1. Co-digestion with Gly or WFO is a promising process to enhance the BMP from the macroalgae Sargassum sp.

Co-digestion of Sargassum sp. with glycerol and waste frying oil: optimization of the biomethane production using a design of experiments

A response surface methodology was adopted to assess the optimal conditions for methane production from the macroalgae Sargassum sp. Three variables were tested: % total solids of algae (%TSsargassum); co-substrate concentration (gwaste L-1); and, co-substrate type (glycerol or waste frying oil (WFO)). The Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) of Sargassum sp. was 300 ± 3 L CH4 kg-1 COD. The co-digestion with glycerol and WFO increased the BMP by 72% and 68% respectively. The methane production rate (k), showed similar behavior as the BMP, increasing 45% and 29% with glycerol and WFO, respectively. The higher BMP (517 ± 13 L CH4 kg-1 COD) and k (78± 4 d-1) was obtained in the assays with 0.5% TS and 3.0 g glycerol L-1. Co-digestion with glycerol or WFO is a promising process to enhance the BMP from the macroalgae Sargassum sp

On the simulation of the filling stage of thermoplastic injection molding using the open-source solver openInjMoldSim

NORTE-07-0162-FEDER-000086 and the Minho Advanced Computing Center (MACC) for providing HP

RFID System Applicability Model for Traceability of Luggage at Airports

One of the critical points in the framework of air transport, is the management of luggage at airports. Every year, a large number of people feel the need to travel for various reasons and that efficient management is a difficult task that needs to keep up with the growth demand in a satisfactorily. One of the problems that has not been solved is exactly the loss, misplacement or mishandling of baggage at airports, given the difficulty of the current management systems to monitor the baggage, which causes unwanted situations to life. Radiofrequency Identification Technology (RFID), integrated with an information system, presents itself as a solution to numerous daily setbacks in various segments, because its main feature is basically to capture information at a distance about some element in movement. By implementing a smart tag (tag) in each baggage, it becomes possible to trace it along the path. In order to solve this problem, the present work aims to develop a prototype software, integrated with RFID, to simulate the control of luggage at airports by means of three scenarios where luggage misplacement may occur

Bacteriocin production of the probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus KS400

In the last years, the use of probiotics, including Lactobacillus species, has received much attention to prevent and treat vaginal disorders. These species have been described as having the ability to colonize the epithelial surface and produce antimicrobial metabolites that are able to control the remaining vaginal microflora. This study aimed to identify and characterize, for the first time, a bacteriocin natively produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus KS400 (probiotic strain from Gynoflor®-Medinova AG, Switzerland) and its antimicrobial activity against relevant urogenital pathogens. After organic acids and hydrogen peroxide neutralization in the fermented Lactobacillus acidophilus KS400 culture medium, bacteriocin activity was tested against the indicator microorganism Lactobacillus delbrueckii ATCC9649. The fermentation of Lactobacillus acidophilus KS400 for bacteriocin production was carried out in batch mode, and its antimicrobial activity, optical density and pH were monitored. After production and extraction, the bacteriocin molecular weight was estimated by electrophoresis and tested against vaginal pathogenic microorganisms. As described for other bacteriocins, batch fermentation profiles indicated that bacteriocin production occurs during the exponential growth phase of the lactobacilli, and declines during their stationary growth phase. The molecular weight of the bacteriocin is approximately 7.5 kDa. The bacteriocin containing protein extract was shown to inhibit the growth of Gardnerella vaginalis, Streptococcus agalactiae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the indicator strain Lactobacillus delbrueckii ATCC9649. We conclude that L. acidophilus KS400 produces bacteriocin with antimicrobial activity against relevant urogenital pathogens.Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007491; Medinovainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Variabilidade geográfica da razão mortalidade/incidência por cancro da mama no sul da Europa

O cancro da mama é o segundo carcinoma mais frequente constituindo a principal causa de mortalidade por carcinoma em mulheres (Ferlay et al., 2013). Detecção e intervenção precoce e qualidade do tratamento influenciam a mortalidade por esta patologia (Bastos, Peleteiro, Gouveia, Coleman, & Lunet, 2010). A percentagem da razão de Mortalidade/Incidência (%RMI) avalia o acesso a rastreios e a qualidade das terapeuticas, apresentando valores baixos se a mortalidade é baixa para os casos incidentes reportados. (Sunkara & Hebert, 2015). Objetivo: Avaliar a variabilidade na %RMI por cancro da mama (número de óbitos por cada 100 casos incidentes de cancro da mama) em quatro países do sul da Europa culturalmente próximos: Espanha, Portugal, Grécia e Itália. Metodologia: Através da International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), obtiveram-se casos observados em 2012 (incidentes e óbitos) para cada país em estudo em mulheres com 15-39, 40-49, 50-64, 65-74 e 75 ou mais anos (WHO, 2016). Obtiveram-se valores de %RMI por país e faixa etária dividindo o número de óbitos pelo número de casos incidentes e multiplicando por 100. Os respetivos intervalos de confiança a 95% (IC95%) foram obtidos pelo teste exato de Fisher. Resultados: Considerando os quatro países como um todo, verifica-se que a %RMI para cancro da mama (número de óbitos por cada 100 casos incidentes) é de 8%, 12%, 17%, 24% e 55%, respectivamente em mulheres com 15-39, 40-49, 50-64, 65-74 e 75 ou mais anos. Verifica-se variabilidade entre países para este indicador, mas não em todas as faixas etárias. Para mulheres mais jovens, Portugal apresenta %RMI de 8,7% (IC95%:6,5-11,3) muito semelhante aos outros três países. Em mulheres com idades entre 40-49 anos e 50-64 anos a %RMI observada em Portugal é, respectivamente, 13,6% (IC95%:11,6-15,8) e 19,7% (IC95%:18,0-21,5), notoriamente inferior à observada na Grécia mas mais elevada em relação a Espanha e Itália. Em mulheres com 65-74 e 75 ou mais anos, as %RMI observadas em Portugal foram, respectivamente, 27,4% (IC95%:24,9-30,1) e 52,5% (IC95%:49,7-55,3), muito semelhantes ao que se observa em Espanha e Itália. Conclusões: Embora em mulheres mais jovens o número de óbitos por cada 100 casos incidentes de cancro da mama seja inferior a 10, este valor é superior a 50 nas mulheres mais velhas. De acordo com os resultados há variabilidade geográfica na %RMI mas esta variabilidade não é transversal a todas as faixas etárias. Os resultados sugerem que o acesso a diagnóstico precoce e a efectividade de tratamento diferem entre países, mas que esta relação é modificada pela idade. Os resultados sugerem equacionar as estratégias preventivas adaptando-as às diferentes faixas etárias.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Numerical simulation of the injection moulding filling stage using open-source and proprietary software

Injection moulding is one of the most important processing techniques for thermoplastic materials, and, due to the high competition and product requirements, it demands continuous optimization. In industrial practice, aiming to minimize the resources spent on the design and manufacturing activities, it is common to resort to appropriate computational modelling tools. However, mainly due to the typical high cost of proprietary software, the support of computational modelling tools in injection moulding design related tasks is not available to medium and small sized companies. This framework, and the clear perspective of the benefits brought by computational modelling, has been motivating the development of codes based on open-source codes, as happens with OpenFOAM [1] computational library. This work aims to compare the numerical results obtained by an open-source solver with the ones obtained with the proprietary software Moldex3D [2], widely employed in in dustry. The case of study considered is the filling stage of the injection moulding process of a rectangular cavity for a thermoplastic material modeled with a non-isothermal, inelastic and generalized Newtonian constitutive model.This work is funded by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Programme and National Funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the projects UID/CTM/50025/2013 and PTDC/EMS-ENE/3362/2014. The authors would like to acknowledge the Minho University cluster under the project Search-ON2: Revitalization of HPC infrastructure of UMinho (NORTE-07-0162-FEDER-000086), co-funded by the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (ON.2-0 Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)