Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2015-11"
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- Needs assessment of families of people with mental illnessPublication . Santos, Teresa; Marques, António; Queirós, CristinaIn Portugal, the majority of people with mental illness live with their families, which play an important role in the treatment and rehabilitation of people with these conditions. Supporting families of people with mental illness is considered a key component in the psychosocial rehabilitation process (O’Doherty, Doherty, & Walsh, 2006). Given the central role of families and informal caregivers, it is critical to acknowledge their difficulties and needs to increase the effectiveness and scope of family interventions approaches (Vermeulen et al., 2015). Research indicates that effective support to informal caregivers enhance systemically the recovery of people with mental illness.
- Coincidence detection in PETPublication . Clemêncio, Filomena; Landeck, JorgeA complex task for PET cameras is the design of a coincidence detection system that allows for a very tight time window. This brings us necessarily to discussing the concept of coincidence in PET (including the concepts of single, prompt and multiple events in a PET chamber), the different options for coincidence sorting and the concept of Field of View (FOV). We present results from a coincidence system we implemented in a Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA with coincidence time windows of the order of a few hundred picoseconds and capable of FOV selection and multiple coincidence rejection implemented in real-time.
- Evaluation of the effectiveness of different safety education interventions: a study with secondary school studentsPublication . Vale, Cláudia; Rodrigues, MatildeYounger workers are more vulnerable to be injured at work, due to a lower experience and knowledge to deal with risks. These workers need to be prepared before their integration in the labor market in order to avoid unsafe behaviors, reducing the occupational accidents. However, for the success of a safety educational intervention (SEI), effective techniques need to be used.
- Physical exercise and it influence in salivary cortisol levelsPublication . Trancoso, Ana; Ferreira, Stephanie; Moreira, Anabela; Moreira, Teresa; Mota, Sandra; Amorim, ManuelaCortisol is important for the individual survival since it interferes with several of the body's systems. Only free cortisol fraction can be determined in saliva. Although saliva presents advantages compared to other biological products for the cortisol measurement, it is influenced by several factors - physical and psychological stress.
- A step towards personalized medicine: establishment of a pharmacogenomics profile of response to BCG intravesical immunotherapy in bladder cancerPublication . Lima, Luís; Ferreira, José A.; Medeiros, Rui; Santos, LúcioThe most effective adjuvant therapy of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) during the last 35 years has been the intravesical instillation with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). However, despite its efficacy, approximately 30% of the patients present treatment failure and tumor may progress.
- Ecotoxicological evaluation of Pentachlorophenol in Avena sativa L. e Glycine max L.Publication . Pina, Ana; Nunes, Mafalda; Barros, PiedadePentachlorophenol (PCP) is the largest chlorinated compound from chlorophenols family and it is included in the list of priority pollutants from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Union, due to its persistence and high toxicity. It was used mainly as a wood preservative; in fungicidal and insecticidal solutions and for incorporation into other pesticide products.
- Análise do Desempenho de Técnicas de Otimização no Problema de EscalonamentoPublication . Santos, André Borges Guimarães Serra e; Pereira, Ana Maria Dias Madureira; Varela, Maria Leonilde RochaA optimização nas aplicações modernas assume um carácter fortemente interdisciplinar, relacionando-se com a necessidade de integração de diferentes técnicas e paradigmas na resolução de problemas reais complexos. O problema do escalonamento é recorrente no planeamento da produção. Sempre que uma ordem de fabrico é lançada, é necessário determinar que recursos serão utilizados e em que sequência as atividades serão executadas, para otimizar uma dada medida de desempenho. Embora ainda existam empresas a abordar o problema do escalonamento através de simples heurísticas, a proposta de sistemas de escalonamento tem-se evidenciado na literatura. Pretende-se nesta dissertação, a realização da análise de desempenho de Técnicas de Optimização, nomeadamente as meta-heurísticas, na resolução de problemas de optimização complexos – escalonamento de tarefas, particularmente no problema de minimização dos atrasos ponderados, 1||ΣwjTj. Assim sendo, foi desenvolvido um protótipo que serviu de suporte ao estudo computacional, com vista à avaliação do desempenho do Simulated Annealing (SA) e o Discrete Artificial Bee Colony (DABC). A resolução eficiente de um problema requer, em geral, a aplicação de diferentes métodos, e a afinação dos respetivos parâmetros. A afinação dos parâmetros pode permitir uma maior flexibilidade e robustez mas requer uma inicialização cuidadosa. Os parâmetros podem ter uma grande influência na eficiência e eficácia da pesquisa. A sua definição deve resultar de um cuidadoso esforço experimental no sentido da respectiva especificação. Foi usado, no âmbito deste trabalho de mestrado, para suportar a fase de parametrização das meta-heurísticas em análise, o planeamento de experiências de Taguchi. Da análise dos resultados, foi possível concluir que existem vantagem estatisticamente significativa no desempenho do DABC, mas quando analisada a eficiência é possível concluir que há vantagem do SA, que necessita de menos tempo computacional.
- Salivary alpha-amylase activity variation along the menstrual cyclePublication . Pereira, Ana Rita; Frutuoso, JoséSalivary alpha-amylase, produced by the salivary glands, is the main enzyme present in saliva (Ekström, Khosravani, Castagnola, & Messana, 2012). The salivary glands and salivary alpha-amylase production can be influenced by many factors, including circadian rhythms, sex, age, stress, medication, tobacco and alcohol, as well as menstrual cycle (Alagendran, Archunan, Armando, & Guzman, 2010; Rohleder & Nater, 2009). There are reports of the inefficacy of saliva from menstruated women to digest glycogen in histochemical stains. However papers studying the relationship between salivary alpha-amylase activity and the menstrual cycle do not have consensual results.
- Relation between occupational exposure to noise and work stress: an exploratory study in industrial environmentPublication . Barros, Beatriz; Santos, Joana; Alberto Alves Carvalhais, CarlosEvidence indicates that exposure to excessive noise can affect auditory and non-auditory aspects of health. Research in industrial workplaces was more focused on the relation between occupational noise and auditory effects, and few relate noise exposure and non-auditory symptoms among workers. The set symptoms are referred to as occupational stress, having a direct impact on productivity and safety behaviors. The main goal of this study was to assess the effect of noise exposure on occupational stress.
- Impact of different storage conditions of formamide in the quality of sequencesPublication . Moura, Daniela; Pina, Maria João; Pereira, Cátia; Baixia, Márcia; Leal, Rafaela; Sousa, Sónia; Vieira, Filipa Quintela; Silva, Regina; Cirnes, LuísObtaining high quality sequences is essential to proper reading and interpretation. A crucial step for this goal is the denaturation of sequencing products which is usually performed using a denaturing agent such as formamide. It has been described that the reduction of formamide quality may cause irregular cytosine and guanine peaks in an electropherogram.According to manufacturers recomendations, formamide should be stored at -20ºC. Under other conditions such as exposition to light and air and temperature changes for a certain period of time, quality may decrease. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to understand which formamide storage-related variables can be responsible for decreasing sequence quality.