Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2019-09"
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- EOLES Course, 4 years and going…results and experiencesPublication . Fidalgo, André; Ferreira, Paulo; Gericota, Manuel; Fredon, Thomas; Andrieu, GuillaumeThe EOLES (Electronics and Optics e-Learning for Embedded Systems) course consists of a 3rd year Bachelor degree that relies exclusively on e-learning and remote laboratories, developed as the result of an EU funded ERASMUS+ project, involving 15 institutions from four European and three North African countries and concluded in 2015. The developed course was accredited as a specialization year in most partner institutions and has been running non-stop since then, mainly with students from North African institutions. Although no longer supported by an EU project, the course is a good example of sustainability as it already had 4 effective editions with successful approval rates and always with many more candidates than available vacancies. This paper presents an overview and overall results for this initial period and a more detailed analysis of the Digital Systems Teaching Unit. The focus is on the course specific characteristics and features, student and teacher experiences and the methodologies that were applied to enhance learning results. Although being a fully online course, several synchronous activities and communication tools are included in the methodology to enhance student and teacher iteration and also to provide an impartial grading process, as required for accreditation. The course expositive material is provided as the student progresses, with progressive unlocking of content depending on each teaching unit timeline, and automatic quizzes results. In short, students are allowed and encouraged to adjust their learning rhythm within the limits allowed by time restraints and evaluation criteria.
- Development and validation of a tool to evaluate resilience performance in metalworking industryPublication . Fernandes, J.; Ferreira, C.; Rubio-Romero, J.C.; Rodrigues, MatildeFor several organizations, occupational risk management is focused on risk assessment, accident investigation and analysis, and implementation of control measures. Investigation and analysis of accidents is often carried out taking into account causation models, with the objective of identifying the causes and determining effective corrective measures to improve both current practices and risk control systems. This behavior of the organizations fits in the traditional perspective of safety, realized as the absence of unwanted events
- Dose-response to different radiochemotherapy regimens in locally advanced pancreatic cancerPublication . Costa Ferreira, Brígida; Dias, Joana; Gomes, Adriana; Mavroidis, Panayiotis; Rocha, HumbertoConformal radiation therapy (RT) delivered concomitantly with chemotherapy including 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or Gemcitabine (GEM) is a common treatment for patients with unresectable locally advanced pancreatic tumors. In this study, the Poisson model describing tumor response to these two treatment options was derived. Clinical data was retrieved from reports pub lished from 1990 to 2015. Dosimetric and clinical data from 1196 patients treated with RT with concurrent 5-FU or GEM were gathered. RT doses ranging from 3.6–64.8 Gy, delivered in fractions of 1.2–8 Gy, were converted to a 2 Gy fractionation scheme using the Biological Effective Dose concept. The param eters of the Poisson-Linear-Quadratic-Time model were derived using genetic algorithm optimization to minimize the least-square fitting error and a local search was then made using the maximum likelihood method. The goodness of the fit was assessed using the Pearson v2 -test. For RT+5-FU, D50 was 59.8 Gy, c was 1.3, a/b was 3.2, Tpot was 18.6 days and Tk was 25.0 days. For RT+GEM, D50 was 54.5 Gy, c was 1.4, a/b was 4.6, Tpot was 34.2 days and Tk was 37.2 days. As expected, RT+GEM showed higher efficacy than RT+5-FU. A RT dose-response effect was obtained showing that treatment strategies allowing a dose-escalation in pancreas tumors should be investigated
- Health impact assessment of a paper pulp industry on atmospheric pollutionPublication . Serrão, M.; Ribeiro, C.; Nunes, M.The environment is one of the major determinants of human health quality. However, over the years, human activities had significant impacts on the environment resulting in negative consequences for the population.
- Determination of glyphosate bioconcentration in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) simultaneously exposed to cylindrospermopsin in a soil systemPublication . Lessa, P.; Sengupta, S.; Pinto, Edgar; Freitas, Marisa; Azevedo, J.; Oliveira, F.; Campos, A.; Vasconcelos, V.Glyphosate has become the most widely used herbicide worldwide. The mode of action of this herbicide is linked to the inhibition of 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phopsphate synthase enzyme, which blocks the plant’s biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids.
- Computational simulation of the cupula behavior in vestibular pathologies of the inner earPublication . Santos, Carla; Gentil, Fernanda; Parente, Marco; Areias, Bruno; Belinha, Jorge; Natal Jorge, RenatoVertigo is reported as one of the most common symptoms in the world, commonly related with vestibular disorders. It is considered the third most frequent complaint in medicine, transmitting a sense of inadequacy and insecurity, mainly in elders. The aim of this work is to contribute to a better understanding on how the vestibular system works, mainly during vestibular rehabilitation process. This knowledge will help in the development of new techniques that will facilitate a more efficient rehabilitation. Vestibular rehabilitation consists in a set of exercises, known as maneuvers, that can reduce and even eliminate the symptoms of dizziness and imbalance associated with a vestibular disorder.
- Single and binary mixture toxicity of ibuprofen and paracetamol to Daphnia magnaPublication . Slogar, V.; Rodrigues, Matilde; Barros, P.Pharmaceuticals are a diverse group of compounds biologically active, produced to treat human and animal diseases. They enter the environment mainly in two ways, waste water effluent from human sources and agricultural runoff from veterinay treatments. As removal of a large number of pharmaceuticals from sewage treatment processes is not complete, mixtures of pharmaceuticals are discharged into the receiving waters in detectable amounts. The aim of this study was to assess the acute and chronic effects of paracetamol, ibuprofen and its mixture, at ecologically relevant concentrations in the freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna
- Heavy metals in seaweed for human consumption available in the Portuguese marketPublication . Sousa, M.; Almeida, A.; Pinto, EdgarSeaweeds consumption has been increasing in European countries, including Portugal. Several studies have shown that some seaweeds species have the ability to accumulate contaminants, namely heavy metals. In particular, the presence of heavy metals in these food products can have a negative impact on the human health, and thus a systematic control of this type of food should be mandatory. In this study, five heavy metals (As, Cd, Tl, Hg, Pb) where analyzed in 16 samples of 9 species of seaweeds available in the Portuguese market for human consumption, namely Hijiki (Hizikia fusiforme), Arame (Eisenia bicyclis), Kombu (Laminaria japonica), Wakame (Undaria pinnatifida), Dulse (Palmaria palmata), seaweed spaghetti (Himanthalia elongata), seaweed lettuce (Ulva rigida) and Nori (Porphyra umbilicalis).
- Portuguese consumer exposure to cosmetic products: risk assessment of ingredients in facial and body moisturizersPublication . Rodrigues, Matilde; Silva, Manuela Vieira Da; Marques, A.The cosmetic industry launches thousands of products annually. Most chemicals are added to the cosmetic product in the form of preservatives and fragrances and some are classified as toxic and prohibited from being used as ingredients because they can cause cancer diseases, mutations, reproductive toxicity, and endocrine disruption.
- "As professores escrevem muito!": Representações de estudantes do 1.º Ciclo sobre a docênciaPublication . Moreira, Ana Isabel; Duarte, PedroAs representações sociais podem ser entendidas como sistemas de significação utilizados na orientação de ações individuais ou mesmo como referência para a categorização de pessoas e acontecimentos (Jodelet, 2001; Moscovici, 1998). Aquelas conceções constroem-se, mesmo por quem ainda vai dando os primeiros passos na experiência educativa que é a frequência quotidiana da escola, como resultado de influências várias, para além dos próprios recursos cognitivos: os discursos sociais, os meios de comunicação, as tradições escolares ou a subjetividade inerente às marcas histórica e socialmente situadas (Moscovici, 2001; Jodelet, 2011). E no dia-a-dia, inevitavelmente, são elas que permitem a identificação como grupo social, a comunicação com os demais, a conferência de sentido a intervenções quotidianas, seja o significado das práticas concretizadas pelos professores ou os comportamentos adotados pelos pares na sala de aula (Castorina, 2017; Flick e Foster, 2008; Wagner et al., 1999). Este trabalho pretende, assim, apresentar as representações construídas por 22 estudantes a frequentarem o 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, em instituições de ensino portuguesas, sobre o seu atual professor (titular da turma), bem como as idiossincrasias inerentes à profissão docente. As suas perspetivas emergem como elementos significativos para se analisar e conceptualizar aquela que, socialmente, se vai veiculando como a identidade de tal grupo profissional, desde logo pelos desenhos e palavras de quem começa agora o seu percurso escolar. Metodologicamente, optou-se por uma investigação de carácter misto (envolvendo análise de dados quantitativa e qualitativa), recolhendo-se as respostas dos alunos por via de um inquérito por questionário. Este contemplou três questões distintas: uma tradicional, de resposta livre e um pouco mais extensa; outra para associação de palavras e uma menos habitual e que requereu a elaboração de um desenho individual sobre a figura do professor. Os dados recolhidos tendem a representar uma professora (docente do sexo feminino), que tem uma profissão importante, centrada na aprendizagem, semelhante ao que é perspetivado por Roldão (2005). A par disso, reconhecem-se dois elementos simbólicos estruturais nessas representações: i) o quadro de ardósia, com especial destaque na sala de aula, estando os alunos centralmente a fixarem-no; ii) o ponteiro, enquanto instrumento utilizado, exclusivamente, pela docente.