Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2021-01"
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- A new microbicidal pervious concrete pavement for hospital parking-lots: assessment of the modulus of elasticityPublication . Oliveira, Evailton Arantes de; Debrah, Justice Kofi; Guerreiro, Maria João Correia de Simas; Dinis, Maria Alzira PimentaIn the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), it is important to articulate a safeguard against urban contamination originating from hospitals, mainly the tires of vehicles that travel in the hospital parkinglots and contaminating the various parts of the city through traffic on urban roads. With the purpose of disinfecting the pavement of hospital parking-lots to prevent diseases, this research proposes the use of a new pavement composed of pervious concrete with calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) additive, i.e., lime powder. The well-known powder lime becomes a disinfectant with a microbicidal effect which increases the pH of the pavement, being a low cost and an abundant material. Studies have shown that this additive affects the mechanical strength of pervious concrete when added to its mixture. Accordingly, the objective of the study is to find a balance between mechanical strength and the ideal proportion of lime powder additive in the pervious concrete mixture through finite element prototypes subjected to vertical loads of 10,000 N with variation in the modulus of elasticity. The results of the structural simulations indicate the prototype with the best performance ratio is 1:0.8:4 (cement:Ca(OH)2:limestone), compressive strain of 15.70 kg/cm2, density of 1,971.42 kg/m3 and modulus of elasticity of 1,480.22 MPa, with demonstrates a satisfactory mechanical performance for the use of this new pavement in hospital parking-lots.
- Distance learning and social issues: opportunities and challenges in preventing violencePublication . Caridade, Sónia; Dinis, Maria Alzira PimentaDistance learning (DL) assumes a relevant place in the scope of social sciences’ approaches adopted in terms of violence prevention, through the creation and development of digital platforms addressing different types of violence. As a consequence of the wide use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by young people, the risks represented for experiencing violence, and the advantages in terms of the rapid dissemination of information, there has been an increasing use of digital tools to prevent different victimization phenomena. Although there are constraints associated with DL, it has lower costs of learning training per person, allowing a wide dissemination of information. This chapter intends to analyse and discuss how DL may address violence prevention in terms of social sciences issues specific interventions. In the expectation that others may emerge, existing practices in this area covering the most diverse types of violence affecting young people are presented and described.
- Valorization of watermelon fruit (Citrullus lanatus) byproducts: phytochemical and biofunctional properties with emphasis on recent trends and advancesPublication . Vinhas, Ana S.; Silva, Carla Sousa e; Matos, Carla; Moutinho, Carla; Ferreira da Vinha, AnaWatermelon (Citrullus lanatus) a fruit crop, is an herbaceous creeping plant belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. It is a tropical plant, mainly propagated by seeds and thrives best in warm areas. While the fruit pulp is consumed, seeds are often discarded. The continuously growing global market for the main tropical fruits is currently estimated at 85 million tons, of which approximately half is lost or wasted throughout the whole processing chain. Developing novel processes for the conversion of these byproducts into value‐added products could provide a viable way to manage this waste problem, aiming at the same time to create a sustainable economic growth within a bio‐economy perspective. Given the ever‐increasing concern about sustainability, complete valorization through a bio‐refinery approach, that is, zero waste concepts is therefore most important. This paper aims to report the status on the valorization of tropical fruit byproducts, more specifically in watermelon seeds and their content in bioactive compounds, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, carotenoids, alkaloids. Moreover, the bioactivity of the different types of phytochemicals and their possible application as a resource for different sectors (food, pharmaceutical, and environmental sciences) is discussed. Consequently, this review presents the concepts of tropical fruit byproducts recovery, and the potential applications of the isolated fractions.
- Actions to inhibit environmental impacts on clandestine landfills in the AmazonPublication . Oliveira, Maria do Perpétuo Socorro Lamego; Oliveira, Evailton Arantes de; Fonseca, AnaThis research studies the negative environmental impacts of clandestine landfills in the Amazon, caused by the illegal disposal of construction waste. In the city of Manaus, located in the center of the Amazon, Brazil, there is a public landfill comprising a solid waste collection complex with an area of 660,000.00 m2. In 2018, this landfill received approximately 932,927.00 t of solid urban waste, an average of 2,537.20 t/day. Unfortunately, less than 1% of this waste was destined for valorization (0.92% were for composting, and 0.05% were recycled). This legalized public landfill does not accept the disposal of construction and demolition waste, claiming the decrease in the lifetime of the landfill. However, this regional public policy prohibiting the disposal of construction and demolition waste in public landfills favors the use of clandestine landfills with harmful effects on the environment of the Amazon. This research presents proposals for actions to validate a mobile phone application with the authorities responsible for the Manaus landfill for recycling construction waste, with the aim of stimulating the circular economy and inhibiting the negative environmental impacts of illegal clandestine landfills.
- Prevalência de complicações técnicas e biológicas na reabilitação implanto-suportada em prótese cimentada: revisão sistemáticaPublication . Azevedo, Ariana Patrícia Gonçalves; Carvalho, AlexandrineObjetivos: Analisar as complicações técnicas e biológicas na reabilitação em prótese implanto suportada cimentada. Métodos: Foi elaborada uma revisão bibliográfica recorrendo às bases de dados informáticas da PubMed (utilizando a MeSH). Esta pesquisa foi sujeita a aplicação de critérios de inclusão e exclusão. Deste modo, apenas os artigos de revisão, meta-análise e estudos foram abrangidos. Resultados: Analisaram-se 5 revisões sistemáticas, 1 meta-análise e 1 revisão sistemática com meta-análise, comparando os dois tipos de retenção aparafusada e cimentada e as suas complicações técnicas e biológicas. Todos os parâmetros clínicos observados foram descritos. Conclusões: Após as conclusões obtidas podemos afirmar que a prótese implanto-suportada cimentada apresenta mais complicações biológicas e menos complicações técnicas.
- A violência sexual intrafamiliar contra a mulher: desafios para o trabalhador humanitárioPublication . Souza, Genoveva Florência de; Cardoso, João CasqueiraA violência de género é um fenómeno social que atravessa os tempos e que tem características semelhantes em qualquer tipo de civilização. Este modo de violência caracteriza-se pela sua transversalidade: tanto ocorre em países bastante desenvolvidos, como em países menos desenvolvidos. Manifesta-se entre os grupos sociais menos favorecidos, mas também entre os mais favorecidos. Por razões de ordem cultural, esta é uma área de maior dificuldade de investigação devido ao facto, inter alia, de haver uma menor sensibilidade social a esta forma de violência. A situação era e é de grande constrangimento social para a mulher que por vezes esconde o facto de ser agredida com receio do estigma social ou das represálias do marido sobre ela ou sobre os filhos. O desafio para o trabalhador humanitário junto de vítimas de violência doméstica passa por criar condições á quebra do ciclo da violência. A recuperação das vítimas passará sempre por estabelecer primariamente um contexto de segurança para parar a situação de violência e empoderar o desenvolvimento seguro da pessoa. Este projeto retrata o percurso percorrido por estas mulheres após a saída dos abrigos contra a violência de género, acompanhadas ou não pelos seus filhos. O interesse essencial do trabalho, para a ação humanitária, consiste não só em analisar situações particular, mas igualmente em salientando a falta de uma resposta intermédia de emergência existentes. Estas respostas são consideradas como fulcrais para que se pudesse transmitir às vítimas o conforto básico, e as condições para o seu desenvolvimento. O primeiro capítulo do trabalho incide sobre a caracterização do trabalho, dando a conhecer o que levou a estudar este tema em especifico e a sua pertinência; o capítulo dois incide sobre a estrutura de atendimento á vitima e os desafios enfrentados pelo trabalhador humanitário. Por último, procurou-se fazer uma reflexão sobre todo o percurso desenvolvido ao longo do trabalho, tentando sistematizar alguns aspetos que pareceram fulcrais, bem como referir as limitações deste estudo, e apresentar sugestões para futuras investigações.
- Técnica injetável versus estratificação convencional de resinas compostas - revisão bibliográficaPublication . Torres, Adriana Rosmaninho Maçães De Castro; Carvalho, AlexandrineObjetivo: Comparar a técnica injetável com compósito fluído em relação à técnica de estratificação convencional. Métodos: Esta revisão bibliográfica foi elaborada através da pesquisa de publicações científicas, com recurso à bases de dados informática PubMed (usando a MeSH). Esta pesquisa foi sujeita à aplicação de critérios de inclusão e exclusão. Foram apenas incluídos artigos de revisão, meta análises e estudos nos últimos cinco anos. Conclusões: A técnica de injeção pode ser uma alternativa à técnica convencional em certas situações clinicas. Cabe ao clínico, perante a situação que tem em mãos, recorrer a um ou outro procedimento consoante a sua destreza manual, tempo clinico, necessidade estética e tipo e quantidade de perda de estrutura dentária.
- Google Play apps ERM: (energy rating model) multi-criteria evaluation model to generate tentative energy ratings for Google Play store appsPublication . Almasri, Abdullah Mahmoud; Gouveia, Luis BorgesA common issue that is shared among Android smartphones users was and still related to saving their batteries power and to avoid the need of using any recharging resources. The tremendous increase in smartphone usage is clearly accompanied by an increase in the need for more energy. This preoperational relationship between modern technology and energy generates energy-greedy apps, and therefore power-hungry end users. With many apps falling under the same category in an app store, these apps usually share similar functionality. Because developers follow different design and development schools, each app has its own energy-consumption habits. Since apps share similar features, an end-user with limited access to recharging resources would prefer an energy-friendly app rather than a popular energy-greedy app. However, app stores give no indication about the energy behaviour of the apps they offer, which causes users to randomly choose apps without understanding their energy-consumption behaviour. Furthermore, with regard to the research questions about the fact that power saving application consumes a lot of electricity, past studies clearly indicate that there is a lot of battery depletion due to several factors. This problem has become a major concern for smartphone users and manufacturers. The main contribution of our research is to design a tool that can act as an effective decision support factor for end users to have an initial indication of the energy-consumption behaviour of an application before installing it. The core idea of the “before-installation” philosophy is simplified by the contradicting concept of installing the app and then having it monitored and optimized. Since processing requires power, avoiding the consumption of some power in order to conserve a larger amount of power should be our priority. So instead, we propose a preventive strategy that requires no processing on any layer of the smartphone. To address this issue, we propose a star-rating evaluation model (SREM), an approach that generates a tentative energy rating label for each app. To that end, SREM adapts current energy-aware refactoring tools to demonstrate the level of energy consumption of an app and presents it in a star-rating schema similar to the Ecolabels used on electrical home appliances. The SREM will also inspire developers and app providers to come up with multiple energy-greedy versions of the same app in order to suit the needs of different categories of users and rate their own apps. We proposed adding SREM to Google Play store in order to generate the energy-efficiency label for each app which will act as a guide for both end users and developers without running any processes on the end-users smartphone. Our research also reviews relevant existing literature specifically those covering various energy-saving techniques and tools proposed by various authors for Android smartphones. A secondary analysis has been done by evaluating the past research papers and surveys that has been done to assess the perception of the users regarding the phone power from their battery. In addition, the research highlights an issue that the notifications regarding the power saving shown on the screen seems to exploit a lot of battery. Therefore, this study has been done to reflect the ways that could help the users to save the phone battery without using any power from the same battery in an efficient manner. The research offers an insight into new ways that could be used to more effectively conserve smartphone energy, proposing a framework that involves end users on the process.
- Validation and psychometric properties of the portuguese version of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and associations with travel, tourism and hospitalityPublication . Magano, José; Vidal, Diogo Guedes; e Sousa, Hélder Fernando Pedrosa; Dinis, Maria Alzira Pimenta; Leite, ÂngelaThe aim of this study is to determine the anxiety and fear related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and their associations with travel, tourism and hospitality, in the Portuguese population. The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) were validated for the Portuguese population and correlations with issues related to travel, tourism and hospitality were established. CAS and FCV-19S presented a good adjustment model and solid reliability and validity. Correlations between CAS and FCV-19S and the perception of the impact of COVID-19 in travel, tourism and hospitality were found. Participants considered that COVID-19 mainly affected their holidays and leisure time. However, the strongest correlation established was between total FCV-19S and emotional fear FCV-19S and the fear of attending hotel facilities. The Portuguese versions of CAS and FCV-19S are reliable psychological tools to assess anxiety and fear in relation to COVID-19 for the general population. The use of hotel facilities is the most threatening issue related to travel, tourism and hospitality. The results suggest that hotels should invest in hygiene and safety measures that allow users to regain confidence in hotel equipment.