Stigmatisation et estime de soi des bénéficiaires de l’aide sociale: accompagnement des assistants sociaux dans les centres médico-sociaux valaisans

Le sujet de cette recherche a été choisi suite à des questionnements personnels liés aux difficultés d’insertion que rencontrent les bénéficiaires de l’aide sociale, ainsi que le travail des assistants sociaux au sein des centres médico-sociaux. Huit professionnels du Valais romand ont alors été interrogés quant à leur pratique en lien avec l’insertion, la stigmatisation touchant les bénéficiaires de l’aide sociale et l’estime de soi découlant des stigmates

Vitamin K and metabolic syndrome: is there a link?

Dado que cerca de um quarto da população adulta mundial apresenta síndrome metabólica, encontrar estratégias para atrasar, ou até prevenir, o aparecimento de patologias associadas a esta condição, como doenças cardiovasculares (DCV), a diabetes tipo 2 (DT2) e a obesidade, revela-se fundamental. A síndrome metabólica encontra-se relacionada com a malnutrição e os micronutrientes têm vindo a ganhar relevância como ferramentas terapêuticas nesta condição. Níveis reduzidos das vitaminas lipossolúveis A, D e E parecem estar associados ao desenvolvimento de síndrome metabólica e, nos últimos anos, foi descoberto que a vitamina K não é, apenas, uma vitamina anti-hemorrágica. A vitamina K tem propriedades anti-inflamatórias e antioxidantes e, para além do seu papel na síntese de várias proteínas Gla, parece estar envolvida na regulação de vias moleculares associadas ao metabolismo. A vitamina K pode proteger de diversas patologias, incluindo DCV, osteoporose, obesidade e DT2. Neste trabalho, serão revistas as fontes de vitamina K, o seu metabolismo e biomarcadores, bem como as evidências atuais do efeito das vitaminas K1 e K2 na inflamação, resistência à insulina, obesidade, dislipidemias e hipertensão arterial, e os seus mecanismos subjacentes.With approximately a quarter of the adult population in the world suffering from metabolic syndrome, finding strategies to delay, or even prevent, the development of diseases associated with this condition, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD), type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity, is paramount. Metabolic syndrome is linked to malnutrition and micronutrients have been gaining acceptance as therapeutic tools for this condition. Low levels of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E seem to be associated with metabolic syndrome and, in recent years, it was discovered that vitamin K is more than just an antihaemorrhagic vitamin. It has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and, in addition to its role in the synthesis of several Gla proteins, it seems to be involved in the regulation of metabolic pathways associated with metabolism. Vitamin K may protect from several diseases, including CVD, osteoporosis, obesity and T2D. Within this work, we present an overview of vitamin K sources, metabolism and biomarkers, as well as the current available evidence of the effect of vitamins K1 and K2 on inflammation, insulin resistance, obesity, dyslipidemia and high blood pressure, and their underlying mechanisms

Effectiveness of Simplex: the case of Portuguese social security

Debureaucratization initiatives are usually welcomed due to the anticipation of its benefits. Although such was the case of Simplex, its effectiveness is yet understudied and thus this dissertation aims to make a balance of the implementation of Simplex project. This balance covers both its effectiveness on the specific case of the Portuguese Social Security System as well as its levers and blockages in the ultimate goal of debureaucratize. The scarcity of information about Simplex impact encouraged this exploratory research as well as the methodological option that backed up a qualitative approach. To meet the study goals, this dissertation also incorporated theoretical elements of the literature review. We selected two Social Security stakeholders as our target groups – accountants and officials. With the former, we conducted individual semi-structured interviews, and with the second, we made focus groups. Findings suggest Simplex is much more than deadlines and cost decrease, and improving people’s lives. It is not just ICT, administrative simplification and legislative simplification, or as we called it, the triangle of drivers legislation, technology & procedures, but it is much more. Simplex has a 360º impact. It is relationship, communication and information. To achieve this, measures must be transversal to PA and the private sector, demanding participation, transparency and accountability, valuing the human resources, as the best asset, because it is necessary to guarantee equity and generate trust in citizens in order to uphold the image of Social Security. But this also requires working the culture, in its most diverse facets, all with the political commitment. Overall, a suitable number of KPI that allow monitoring and the comparability of the results is required as well as identifying constraints and blockages, and implementing corrective measures to reduce the risks of Simplex. In this way can Simplex become a tool of continuous improvement.As iniciativas de desburocratização são geralmente bem-vindas devido à antecipação de seus benefícios. Embora tenha sido esse o caso do Simplex, a sua eficácia tem sido pouco estudada e, por isso, esta dissertação visa fazer um balanço da implementação do projeto Simplex. Este balanço compreende quer a eficácia do Simplex no caso específico do Sistema de Segurança Social Português, quer a identificação de alavancas e bloqueios do Simplex, com o objetivo último de desburocratização. A escassez de informação sobre o impacto do Simplex motivou a realização desta investigação exploratória, bem como a opção metodológica que se ancorou numa abordagem qualitativa. Para atender aos objetivos do estudo, esta dissertação também incorporou elementos teóricos da revisão da literatura. Selecionámos dois stakeholders da Segurança Social como grupos-alvo – contabilistas e funcionários públicos. Com o primeiro, realizámos entrevistas individuais semiestruturadas e, com o segundo, construímos grupos de discussão. Os resultados sugerem que o Simplex é muito mais do que redução de prazos e de custos, e melhoria da vida das pessoas. Não é apenas tecnologias da informação e da comunicação, simplificação administrativa e simplificação legislativa, ou como designámos, o triângulo de drivers legislação, tecnologia e procedimentos; é muito mais do que isso. O Simplex tem um impacto 360º. Ele é relacionamento, comunicação e informação. Para tal, as medidas devem ser transversais à Administração Pública e ao setor privado, exigindo participação, transparência e responsabilização, valorizando os recursos humanos, como o melhor ativo, porque é preciso garantir equidade e gerar confiança nos cidadãos a fim de defender a imagem da Segurança Social. Mas isso também requer trabalhar a cultura, nas suas facetas mais diversas, tudo com o compromisso político. No geral, é necessário estabelecer um número adequado de KPI que permitam a monitorização e a comparabilidade dos resultados, bem como identificar os constrangimentos e bloqueios, e implementar medidas corretivas para reduzir os riscos do Simplex. Desta forma, o Simplex pode tornar-se numa ferramenta de melhoria contínua

Combining simulated and real images in deep learning

To train a deep learning (DL) model, considerable amounts of data are required to generalize to unseen cases successfully. Furthermore, such data is often manually labeled, making its annotation process costly and time-consuming. We propose the use of simulated data, obtained from simulators, as a way to surpass the increasing need for annotated data. Although the use of simulated environments represents an unlimited and cost-effective supply of automatically annotated data, we are still referring to synthetic information. As such, it differs in representation and distribution comparatively to real-world data. The field which addresses the problem of merging the useful features from each of these domains is called domain adaptation (DA), a branch of transfer learning. In this field, several advances have been made, from fine-tuning existing networks to sample-reconstruction approaches. Adversarial DA methods, which make use of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), are state-of-the-art and the most widely used. With previous approaches, training data was being sourced from already existent datasets, and the usage of simulators as a means to obtain new observations was an alternative not fully explored. We aim to survey possible DA techniques and apply them to this context of obtaining simulated data with the purpose of training DL models. Stemming from a previous project, aimed to automate quality control at the end of a vehicle's production line, a proof-of-concept will be developed. Previously, a DL model that identified vehicle parts was trained using only data obtained through a simulator. By making use of DA techniques to combine simulated and real images, a new model will be trained to be applied to the real-world more effectively. The model's performance, using both types of data, will be compared to its performance when using exclusively one of the two types. We believe this can be expanded to new areas where, until now, the usage of DL was not feasible due to the constraints imposed by data collection

Developmental absence of maxillary lateral incisors in the Portuguese population

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and clinical manifestation of developmental absence of maxillary permanent lateral incisors in the Portuguese population. The study group comprised 16 771 patients observed between 1993 and 2000 at the Faculty clinic. Two hundred and nineteen patients were found to have missing upper lateral incisors (131 females and 88 males, with ages ranging between 3 and 71 years), a prevalence of 1.3 per cent in this population. Absence of these teeth was bilateral in 44.7 per cent of the patients; of the unilateral cases, 33 per cent occurred on the right side and 21.9 per cent on the left side. In children under 8 years of age (n = 12), two (0.26 per cent) also had developmental absence of the primary lateral incisors, one unilateral and the other bilateral. Among the 121 subjects with unilateral developmental absence, the contralateral maxillary lateral incisor was found to be microdont in 57.1 per cent (right lateral 23 per cent, left lateral 34.1 per cent), suggesting the possibility that microdontia represents a variable expression of the same developmental defect that results in absence

Numerical investigation of the flow field in confined impinging jets of power law fluids

A numerical investigation was carried out to characterize the isothermalflow in a confined impinging jet emanating from a rectangular duct of aspect-ratio equalto 13. After impinging a flat plate the flow separated in two streams that were confined bytwo slopping plane walls, each making an angle of 12° relative to the plate. The fluidswere Newtonian and purely viscous non-Newtonian, the latter described by a power lawmodel. The numerical simulation was carried out with a finite-volume based code usingnon-orthogonal collocated grids and second order accurate differencing schemes todiscretize all terms of the transport equations. The flow characteristics were studied as afunction of shear-thinning intensity for Reynolds numbers between 10 and 800.Specifically, we investigate in detail the pressure loss in the cell and the size of therecirculation zone attached to the sloping surfaces of the cell after validation of thenumerical simulations against experimental Newtonian and non-Newtonian data. Threedimensional effects due to the finite span of the rectangular duct and cell are alsoevaluated

Flow field in a liquid impinging jets confined by slopping plane walls

An experimental investigation was carried out to characterize the flow field in a liquid impingingjet confined by slopping plane walls and emanating from a rectangular duct. The fluids are Newtonianflowing in the laminar (Re= 135 and 276) and turbulent regimes (Re=13,750) and the two-dimensionalrectangular cell has an aspect-ratio equal to 13. The fully-developed rectangular jet impinging the flat surface(plate) is confined by two slopping plane walls, each one making an angle of 12° relative to the plate. Thepresence of the impact plate is felt upstream at y/H= -0.2 in the laminar regime and at y/H= -0.4 in theturbulent regime. The results show that the flow is symmetric relative to the x-y and x-z center planes. Nearthe plane slopping wall there is separated flow for Reynolds numbers in excess of 208, as was observed invisualization studies. For Re= 275 this small separated flow zone has a normalized length, xR/H = 0.25,whereas for turbulent flow xR/H is equal to 0.9. In the turbulent flow regime turbulence is very high at the jetimpact region due to strong fluid deceleration, but the maximum turbulence is observed in the shear layerformed between the jet along the impinging wall and the separated flow region on the sloping wall. We alsoreport three-dimensional effects due to finite slenderness of the flow geometry

Caracterização de argamassas com incorporação direta de PCM

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia CivilCurrently, the construction sector is a driver of the world economy, however, it also stands out, in the negative, due to environmental impacts, as it consumes energy from non-renewable sources and produces large amounts of waste. The waste from industry is a matter of concern, however, the construction industry announces itself as a great candidate in the attempt to solve this problem, through the incorporation of functional materials and industrial waste in construction materials. Thus, the replacement of natural sand by aggregates resulting from foundry industry waste in mortars may reduce their production cost, achieving a good performance regarding their physical and mechanical properties. The main objective of this work was to develop mortars with incorporation of various levels of paraffin wax, a residue from the foundry industry that can be considered a phase change material, by direct incorporation and using an aggregate also from the foundry industry as waste, which is the ceramic shells, constituting 100% of the aggregate used. Tests were performed to characterize the mortars in their fresh and hardened states and their workability, compressive and flexural strength at 7 and 28 days, water absorption by immersion, water absorption by capillarity and adherence were determined. By analyzing the microstructure morphology of the mortars developed, it was possible to observe a homogeneous distribution of paraffin wax particles and shells of the ceramic molds. Despite that, microcracks were detected in the microstructure of the mortars, and the mechanical properties were affected, this decrease does not prevent their practical application, since they obtained maximum compressive strength, according to specification NP EN-998:2010.Atualmente, o setor da construção é um impulsionador da economia mundial, no entanto, também se destaca, pela negativa, devido aos impactos ambientais, pois consome energia proveniente de fontes não renováveis e produz grandes quantidades de resíduos. Os resíduos provenientes da indústria são uma temática preocupante, contudo, a indústria da construção civil anuncia-se como um grande candidato na tentativa de solucionar esse problema, através da incorporação de materiais funcionais e resíduos industriais em materiais de construção. Assim, a substituição da areia natural por agregados resultantes de resíduos da indústria de fundição em argamassas pode vir a diminuir o custo de produção das mesmas, conseguindo um bom comportamento relativamente às suas propriedades físicas e mecânicas. O principal objetivo deste trabalho consistiu em desenvolver argamassas com incorporação de vários teores de cera parafínica, resíduo resultante da indústria de fundição que pode ser considerado um material de mudança de fase recorrendo à incorporação direta e utilizando um agregado também proveniente da indústria de fundição como resíduo, sendo este as cascas de moldes cerâmicos, constituindo 100 % do agregado utilizado. Foram realizados ensaios de caracterização das argamassas no estado fresco e endurecido tendo se determinado a trabalhabilidade, resistência à compressão e flexão aos 7 e 28 dias, a absorção de água por imersão, absorção de água por capilaridade e a aderência. Ao analisar a morfologia da microestrutura das argamassas desenvolvidas, foi possível observar uma distribuição homogénea das partículas de cera parafínica e cascas dos moldes cerâmicos. Apesar disso, foram detetadas microfissuras na microestrutura das argamassas, sendo as propriedades mecânicas afetadas, essa diminuição não impede a sua aplicação prática, visto que as mesmas obtiveram a máxima resistência à compressão, de acordo com a especificação NP EN 998:2010