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An intelligent decision support system for bridge safety assessment based on data mining models
No full textSerie : WIT transactions on information and communication technologies, vol. 40, ISSN 1746-4463Bridges are one of the primary infrastructures in our society. During the life cycle of a bridge structure, the service conditions should be evaluated on a regular basis in order to assure the necessary levels of strength and durability. Taking into account (i) the social-economic importance of bridges use, (ii) the necessary safety assurance and (iii) the high costs of any physical intervention, there is a need for continuous online bridge monitoring, for investment and use optimization. Recently, smart structures, which combine remote sensors (which send a stream of time series data) with intelligent information systems for real-time decision support through embedded Data Mining (DM) models, have been proposed to handle this task. Indeed, the application of DM techniques to analyse civil engineering data has gained an increasing interest in recent years, due to intrinsic characteristics such as the ability to deal with nonlinear relationships. In this study, Artificial Neural Networks have been used to predict the following ratios: global efficiency, structural adequacy and safety, serviceability, essentiality for public use, and special reductions, using a ratio-based framework, and data collected during inspections of bridges in the north of Portugal. In particular, the global efficiency ratio is very useful to identify intervention priorities and to schedule the repair, strengthening and rehabilitation needs. The obtained results are encouraging and the most accurate model for global efficiency presents a low error (Root Mean Squared Error of 0.149). This approach opens room for the development of intelligent decision support systems for Bridge Management Systems. These systems are being recognized as a good way to systematize all the management process and to minimize the ratio cost/benefit during the bridge lifetime.5A1D-90C1-54FE | Joana Maria Martins Rosa Maia de Oliveira Almeidainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Use of agro-industrial waste for biosurfactant production: a comparative study of hemicellulosic liquors from corncobs and sunflower stalks
Get PDFBiosurfactants have attracted considerable attention because of their lower toxicity, biocompatibility, and effectiveness over chemical surfactants. The use of renewable sources and the concept of sustainable production for such biomolecules supports the increased demand for eco-friendly products. Herein, the present study investigated corncobs (CC) and sunflower stalks (SS) as substitutes for conventional substrates in submerged fermentation with B. subtilis. The agro-industrial residues were submitted to an alkaline pretreatment to obtain hydrolysates rich in hemicelluloses, whose concentrations were determined at 48.8% and 65.7% for corncob and sunflower stalk liquors, respectively. The influence of different concentrations of glucose (0, 2.5, and 5%) and liquor (0, 20%, and 40%) were evaluated according to cell concentration, surface tension reduction rate (STRR), and emulsification index (EI24). Biosurfactants obtained with the hemicellulose liquor of sunflower stalk showed the highest cell concentration (4.57 g/L) and STRR (58.07%), whereas the maximum values of EI24 (56.90% in hexane, 65.63% in toluene, and 64.86% in kerosene) were achieved by using corncob liquor. All top results were observed at 2.5% glucose, 20% liquor (CC or SS), and 1% mineral salts. Notably, excess glucose or liquor (CC or SS) negatively affected cell growth and biosurfactant performance. The results indicated the potential of corncobs and sunflower stalks as low-cost substrates to produce a high added-value biosurfactant with promising tensoative and emulsifying properties.0F1A-358B-43B5 | Fernando Jorge Ribeiro da MataN/
A bridge life-cycle cost optimization methodology
No full textA life-cycle cost optimization methodology for a set of bridges, regarding the desired quality level and the available budget, will be presented. The methodology analyses multiple scenarios and evaluates
the performance and cost consequences of implementing different types of interventions, in different periods of time. The cost estimation considers the direct and indirect costs of several types of maintenance or rehabilitation works and the deterioration of each bridge is predicted with Markov matrices, based on a condition state index. The methodology was tested on set of 100 concrete road bridges and the results of its application will be presented, as well as some outcomes of its sensitive analysis. The methodology is an approach to support bridge management decisions that could help to optimize the maintenance and rehabilitation interventions plan for a specific group of bridges, during a medium or long period of time, based on life cycle cost minimization.5A1D-90C1-54FE | Joana Maria Martins Rosa Maia de Oliveira AlmeidaN/
Plano de gestão de pastoreio racional em modo de produção biológico : caso de estudo de uma exploração em Idanha-a-Velha
Get PDFDissertação de mestrado em Agricultura Biológica, apresentada à Escola Superior Agrária do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do CasteloNas condições semiáridas do sequeiro Mediterrânico, a degradação do solo é real e acontece,
em particular devido à erosão hídrica e práticas agropecuárias com impacto negativo. As
alterações climáticas, sob a forma de secas prolongadas e estação chuvosa cada vez mais
curta, com episódios de elevada precipitação, contribuem para a degradação e a perda de
solo. Estando diretamente dependentes da produtividade do solo, as explorações
agropecuárias extensivas enfrentam um desafio que as obriga a repensar práticas tradicionais
das últimas décadas, como o pastoreio contínuo, e a procurar diferentes formas de gestão do
pastoreio, com vista a travar a degradação do solo, aumentar a resiliência às alterações
climáticas, adaptação a novas estratégias de subsídios e aumento da rentabilidade financeira.
Partindo de um caso de estudo que caracteriza, ainda, muitas explorações, apresenta-se uma
proposta de planeamento de pastoreio, baseada no pastoreio racional, com parques de
pastoreio ajustados ao encabeçamento, e mudanças de parque a cada 3 dias, para evitar
sobrepastoreio, quebrar ciclos de parasitas e permitir a dispensa de utilização corrente de
substâncias desparasitantes, que têm efeitos negativos sobre os micro e macro organismos
do solo, em particular os insetos coprófagos. Desta forma, prevê-se um aumento do
encabeçamento, com vantagens financeiras para a empresa, e com maior impacto no solo,
em particular nas parcelas mais pobres, transformando matos em pastagens.
A gestão da água é de elevada importância, pelo que se apresentam algumas técnicas para
maximizar a retenção e infiltração da água, com efeitos diretos na produtividade da
pastagem.In the semi-arid conditions of the dryland Mediterranean, soil degradation is real and occurs,
in particular due to water erosion and negative impact farming practices. Climate change, in
the form of extended droughts and an increasingly shorter rainy season with episodes of
heavy rainfall, contributes to soil loss and degradation. Being directly dependent on soil
productivity, grazing livestock farms face a challenge that forces them to rethink traditional
practices of the last decades, such as continuous grazing, and to seek different forms of
grazing management to stop soil degradation, increase climate change resilience, adapt to
new subsidy strategies and increase financial profitability.
Starting from a case study that still characterises many farms, a grazing planning proposal is
presented, based on rotational grazing, with grazing parks adjusted to stocking density, and
park changes every 3 days, to avoid overgrazing, breaking parasite cycles and preventing
current use of deworming substances, which have negative effects on soil micro and macro
organisms, in particular coprophagous insects. In this way, an increase in stocking density
is expected, with financial advantages for the farm, and with greater impact on the soil,
particularly on the poorest plots, transforming bush into pasture.
Water management is of great importance, some techniques are presented to maximise water
retention and infiltration, with direct effects on pasture productivity
a systematic review
Get PDFIntroduction. This systematic review was conducted to (1) characterize the main elements of studies of velocity-based training (VBT) (e.g., training protocols) conducted in soccer, (2) summarize the main physiological and physical effects of VBT on soccer players, and (3) provide future directions for research. Methods: A systematic review of Cochrane Library, EBSCO, PubMed, Scielo, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science databases was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Results: The database search initially identified 127 titles. Of those, five articles were deemed eligible for the systematic review, two studies used a traditional strength training approach, and the other remaining three used sprint training with either resisted sprints or combined resisted and unresisted sprints. All studies addressed strength and power and sprint outcomes, three measured jump performance improvements, and only one study addressed spatiotemporal and kinematics or aerobic measures regarding adaptations to VBT interventions. Only one study addressed acute responses to VBT training regarding spatiotemporal variables and kinematics. Conclusions: Acute responses to VBT training were as follows: when sprint time decreases by at least 50–60%, sprint kinematics are immediately affected, but spatiotemporal variables are only significantly affected when velocity loss (v.loss) reaches at least 60%. For long term adaptations, it seems that for strength increases using the squat, higher or lower velocity loss due to in-set fatigue accumulation does not make a difference, although it does affect jump performance, favoring the low v.loss groups (15%). The same applies to sprint, as low v.loss accumulation due to fatigue along sets seems to be detrimental to sprint performance adaptations. Moreover, high v.loss during sprints due to external load can improve sprint performance without harming the running technique as was previously thought.9E1A-F9DD-3EB8 | Filipe Manuel ClementeN/
E se a catástrofe acontece….. Que preparação dos enfermeiros do serviço de urgência
Get PDFRelatório de Estágio de Natureza Profissional no âmbito do Mestrado em Enfermagem Médico-Cirúrgica apresentada na Escola Superior de Saúde do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do CasteloO progresso nos cuidados de saúde no decurso do tempo tem exigido, não só, processos cada vez mais complexos, bem como a formação de profissionais com níveis de competência e conhecimento progressivamente mais elevados, no sentido de corresponderem com maior exatidão ao aumento gradual das suas funções e responsabilidades. Neste contexto, a Enfermagem converte-se numa disciplina mais complexa e altamente exigente em cuidados especializados impondo o desenvolvimento contínuo dos seus profissionais.
O presente relatório insere-se no âmbito do Estágio de Natureza Profissional (ENP) do Curso de Mestrado em Enfermagem Médico-Cirúrgica (MEMC), realizado num Serviço de Urgência Básica (SUB) da região norte de Portugal e procura evidenciar de forma crítica e reflexiva o percurso e o processo de aquisição e desenvolvimento de competências especializadas em Enfermagem Médico-Cirúrgica na área da Pessoa em Situação Crítica (EMCPSC). Para o desenvolvimento de competências procurou basear-se a prática clínica na evidência científica e alcançar o máximo de experiências que incorporassem as dimensões da prestação de cuidados à PSC e família, da formação, da gestão e da investigação.
A preparação dos profissionais de saúde para atuarem em situações de exceção e catástrofe que originam multivítimas, inclui atividades, programas e sistemas desenvolvidos e implementados antes do evento. A pandemia recentemente enfrentada mostrou muito claramente a velocidade com que mesmo os melhores sistemas de saúde em diferentes países podem ser sobrecarregados e devastados. A evidência científica demonstra que o atual sistema de formação não promove as competências necessárias e não prepara os profissionais de saúde para a resposta a eventos catastróficos.
Estas constatações conduziram-nos à investigação da perceção dos enfermeiros do SUB sobre a sua preparação para intervir em situação de catástrofe, com recurso à Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET®), através de um estudo descritivo-correlacional.
Verificou-se que os enfermeiros assinalaram uma fraca preparação para atuar em situação de catástrofe. Contudo, os elementos do sexo masculino revelaram maior perceção de preparação face à situação de catástrofe comparativamente com os do sexo feminino, tendo apresentado diferenças estatisticamente significativas no score global da escala, na dimensão das competências relacionadas com o “saber” e a “gestão pós-catástrofe”. Também nestas dimensões comprovaram-se diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre o nível de perceção da preparação para a catástrofe em função da formação avançada desenvolvida na área da emergência, sendo que, os enfermeiros detentores de formação avançada em áreas onde há alusão a atendimento em catástrofe apresentaram valores médios superiores para a perceção de preparação.
Atentando à minimização das consequências impactantes que a catástrofe acarreta, é vital que haja uma crescente preparação para este tipo de ocorrências, minimizando erros e agilizando a atuação das equipas envolvidas. Para que o Plano de Emergência em Catástrofe (PEC) hospitalar seja executado de forma eficaz é necessário que cada profissional (particularmente, o enfermeiro) conheça a sua missão, o seu papel e a sua ação, de modo a desempenhar as suas funções de forma sistemática e coordenada.
Desta experiência, destaca-se o papel preponderante do Enfermeiro Especialista em Enfermagem Médico-Cirúrgica (EEEMC) na diferenciação e melhoria contínua dos cuidados de Enfermagem, na promoção da consciencialização da importância da formação ao longo da vida e do trabalho em equipa, na gestão e organização dos serviços de saúde e dos cuidados de Enfermagem e na investigação, num contexto tão complexo como um SU.Progress in healthcare over time has required not only increasingly complex processes, but also the training of professionals with progressively higher levels of competence and knowledge, in order to correspond more accurately to the gradual increase in their functions and responsibilities. In this context, nursing becomes a more complex and highly demanding discipline in terms of specialized care, imposing the continuous development of its professionals.
This report is part of the Professional Internship of the Master's Course in Medical-Surgical Nursing, carried out in a basic emergency service in the north of Portugal and seeks to critically and reflectively highlight the path and process of acquisition and development of specialized skills in Medical-Surgical Nursing in the area of the person in critical situation. For the development of competences, efforts were made to base clinical practice on scientific evidence and to achieve the maximum of experiences that incorporated the dimensions of providing care to the person in critical situation and family, training, management and research.
The preparation of health professionals to act in exceptional and catastrophic situations that lead to multiple casualties includes activities, programs and systems developed and implemented before the event. The recently faced pandemic has shown very clearly the speed with which even the best health systems in different countries can be overwhelmed and devastated. Scientific evidence shows that the current training system does not promote the necessary skills and does not prepare health professionals to respond to catastrophic events.
These findings led us to investigate the perception of basic emergency service nurses about their preparation to intervene in a catastrophe situation, using the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET®), through a descriptive-correlational study.
It was verified that the nurses indicated a weak preparation to act in a catastrophe situation. However, the male elements revealed a greater perception of preparedness in the face of a catastrophe situation compared to the female ones, having shown statistically significant differences in the overall score and in the dimension of competences related to “knowledge”, “post-disaster management”. Also, in these dimensions, there were statistically significant differences between the level of perception of preparedness for a catastrophe as a function of the advanced training developed in the emergency area, and nurses with advanced training in areas where there is an allusion to care in a catastrophe had higher mean values for the perception of preparedness.
Bearing in mind the minimization of the impacting consequences that the catastrophe entails, it is vital that there is increasing preparation for this type of occurrence, minimizing errors and streamlining the performance of the teams involved. For the hospital disaster emergency plan to be carried out effectively, it is necessary that each professional (particularly the nurse) knows his mission, his role and his action, in order to perform his functions in a systematic and coordinated way.
From this experience, the preponderant role of the specialist nurse in Medical-Surgical Nursing stands out in the differentiation and continuous improvement of nursing care, in promoting awareness of the importance of lifelong training and teamwork, in the management and organization of health services and nursing care and in research, in a context as complex as an emergency service
The influence of visual strategies in generalization: a study with 6th grade students solving a pattern task
No full textThis paper gives a description of an ongoing study focused on pattern exploration and generation tasks. It evaluates the ways in which visual strategies can be used to enhance and enrich learners' experiences of generalization. The main purpose is to analyse strategies and difficulties presented by grade 6 students when solving these activities and to ascertain the role played by visualization in their reasoning.0D1E-4824-1244 | Ana Cristina Coelho Barbosainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Can high-intensity interval training and small-sided games be effective for improving physical fitness after detraining? A parallel study design in youth male soccer players
Get PDFBackground: The aim of this study was two-fold: (i) analyze the within-group physical fitness adaptations promoted by a detraining period (4 weeks) followed by an intervention period (4 weeks) using small-sided games (SSGs) or running-based high intensity interval training (HIIT); and (ii) analyze the between-group differences aiming to identify the effectiveness of each training intervention on the physical fitness of youth male soccer players.
Methods: This study followed a randomized parallel study design. Forty male soccer players (age: 16.4 ± 0.5 years old) were assessed three times: (i) baseline; (ii) after 4 weeks of detraining; and (iii) after a retraining period of 4 weeks. After returning from detraining, players were randomized to an SSG-based training intervention (n =20)orrunning-based HIIT (n=20). Interventions lasted 4 weeks, with a training frequency of three sessions per week. At all timepoints, players were assessed by: (i) anthropometry (height, body mass, fat mass (FM)), countermovement jump (CMJ), standing broad jump (SBJ), triple hop jump (THJ), linear sprint test (5-, 10-,and 20-m), zig-zag test with (ZZwB) and without (ZZwoB) ball, three corner run test (3CRT), Y-balance test and the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (YYIRT). Mixed ANOVA (time group) was conducted for testing interactions between the three timepoints of repeated measures and the two groups. Effect size (ES) for
pairwise comparisons was calculated using Cohen’s.
Results: Between-group analysis revealed significantly smaller SBJ (t = −2.424, p =0.020, d = −0.767 small ES) and THT (t = −4.353, p < 0.001, d = −1.376 large ES) in the SSG group after the retraining period. At the same time, SSG presented significantly greater FM after retraining compared to HIIT (t = 3.736, p < 0.001, d = 1.181 large ES). Additionally, SSG had significantly smaller values than HIIT in the ZZwB(t=−3.645, p < 0.001, d =−1.153 large ES), but greater times in the ZZwoB (t = 2.679, p = 0.011, d = 0.847 large ES) and 3CRT (t = 3.126, p = 0.003, d = 0.989 large ES).
Conclusions: Although SSG and HIIT interventions improved physical fitness outcomes after a period of detraining, they were not able to effectively restore body composition, CMJ, 20-m sprint, ZZwB, and YYIRT compared with the baseline assessments (before detraining). Only HIIT was significantly effective for restoring
SBJ, short linear sprin speed, and change-of-direction compared with baseline. HIIT was also significantly better than SSG in improving SBJ and ZZwoB. Although the small sample, the non determination of maturation status and the need to be cautious regarding generalization, HIIT appears to be more beneficial than SSG after
a detraining period for recovery of body composition and physical fitness qualities in this specific context of youth soccer players.9E1A-F9DD-3EB8 | Filipe Manuel ClementeN/