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Human-centred design of innovative systems in the field of Transports is crucial for safety and efficiency issues. For utilitarian or working purposes, a system is designed and developed in such a way it should fit the human characteristics and the function it is designed for. Even automatic and complex systems are controlled by people, meaning that their features should be integrated from the design phases until the implementation and functioning in order to ensure a well succeeded life cycle. The value of the contribution of Ergonomics to fit systems and tasks to human is well recognised, particularly concerning the physical features of humans and machines. However, technological development and innovation are bringing about new problems and, consequently, new research needs. Actually, the main research questions related to the human interaction with modern and complex systems focus on the human information processing and cognitive functioning, stressing decision making, attention, mental workload and fatigue, which are responsible for the success of any task performance but could compromise the expected results and safety. The study of human activity and behaviour allows us to understand human diversity and variability, the instability of the human activity over time, due to fatigue, health, ageing, etc., as well as the evolution of human expertise and people's motivation and commitment in their tasks performance. This article will focus on these new research questions applied to the field of TRANSPORTS, where the main technological innovation is represented by the introduction of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). Ongoing and recently carried out projects will be referred to frame and explain the following research topics: the cognitive resources in performing additional tasks to driving, fatigue and drowsiness in driving and in traffic control rooms, as well as ITS and special needs of older drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analysis the relationship between urbanisation processes and the functions and role of planning, using the case study of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA). It is based on two research projects on the LMA, one already finished and another one still in progress developed by research teams in four schools of the UTL. The information comes from two different levels of analysis: i) the study of urbanisation processes through different decades for the identification of tendencies and for an understanding of the development of the urban metropolitan condition, and ii) the study of different planning proposals and regulations for assessing the efficacy of the urban and governance regulatory system. The article is organised in four parts. The first part summarises and defines concepts for analysing urbanisation processes and trends. The second part refers to the results and the conclusions arising from the study of land use dynamics and changes taking place in the LMA through different periods. In the third part these results are evaluated in face of municipal planning proposals and land use regulations. The last part tries to draw conclusions based on convergences and divergences between urbanisation dynamics and conditions for planning control and planning practice, particularly in terms of the role of public investment policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All human beings are entitled to human dignity on equal terms. This principle must dominate the development of a society open to everyone, which leads to Inclusive Design concept. Inclusive design is not an obstacle, it's a challenge; it's a philosophy based on individual differences. The concept implies the creation of environments, products and services available and usable by the largest possible number of people, of all ages, sizes and with different abilities, given them equal opportunity to participate in society, thus the physical environment can directly prevent people from participating in desired activities on equal terms with the majority. In Europe almost 25 % of the population suffer from some form of functional limitation. In Portugal, more than 1 million of persons have some type of inability. The design project, as central subject in the designer's formation, should be developed having in mind the Inclusive Design principles, in a sustainable perspective, behind the concept dissemination. The idea is to demonstrate how the design practices can adopt a routine inclusive approach, if those principles should be considered right from the very beginning. Behind the inclusive design contents and practices associated to the design project, in the designers' graduate formation, the integrated research projects and the post-graduate formation are also mainstream forms of the approach to the theme in the Lisbon Faculty of Architecture (FA). Several research projects in inclusive design are in development at FA, integrated in LID — Design Innovation Laboratory, among which: "The Observatory in Inclusive Design"; "Evaluation of the Accessibility and Usability Conditions of ATM Machines"; "Design Ergonomic Project"; "Accessibility and Inclusion in Graduation Teaching". Everyone involved in the current process at FA hope that this postural changing may contribute for a better knowledge and application of the rule and standards in what concerns accessibilities and Inclusive Design, when developing a Design Project, in a way to integrate a greater number of persons. We should be able to make our choices about spaces, environment, objects and information design, and also its politics, not only to reduce the barriers, but also to incorporate all in a sustainable approach, with social responsibility and respect for the human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hotel Architecture in Portugal is a two-year project planned to be carried out in the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Lisbon. Its objectives are to investigate the development of hotel architecture in Portugal in the 20th century as well as to expose the issues that the development of this architectural typology will raised in the near future. The study focuses on the relationship between cultural, site-specific and even nation-identity concerns of production, especially from the architect-designer in one end of a spectrum and, at the other end, the dissemination of international models. A hypothetical polar dichotomy is thus established. Relevance to architectural and urban issues will be treated as the main subject, relating iconography, formal language, functional organization, architectural morphology, site plan and location. The project intends to collect and compare alternatives to finally sort out the best practices from the architectural production. Being a work-in-progress, it is organizing a database of authors, dates, locations, alterations and contributors from other fields besides architecture. The analysis of individual architects and cases-studies of a number of hotels will help create the background to a possible framework of strategies dealing with the future. The relevance of this issue to the economic health of the country is evident, as well as to many other countries supporting a large tourism industry. As a result of this project's investigations and in collaboration with colleagues, educational institutions, professional bodies and governmental agencies throughout the country, as well as with consultants in Europe, the USA and Latin America, it aims to develop national frameworks for the encouragement of the highest standards in understanding, assessing and designing leisure-related accommodations, namely hotels and their supporting facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the research that is being undertaken by the Transport Infrastructure and Systems Group of CESUR — IST, under the author's leadership. There are three main research streams: Modelling and innovation in urban mobility management; Organization and technology as instruments for efficiency gains in large scale transport systems; and, Quality and safety of transport infrastructure. Most of this research is developed through PhD dissertations. This paper briefly provides the main motivation, methodology and expected results of the different research studies, as well as the labs and international networks that underpin this research effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characterization of the human motion has a fundamental importance in scientific areas as diverse as medicine, sports, physical therapy, vehicle dynamics or general engineering applications. One of the most challenging problems consists in the evaluation of the internal forces in the human body and in their control, including muscles, ligaments or anatomic joints, without using intrusive techniques. Experimental procedures based on photogrametry and force platforms are used to collect the data required for the numerical methods, based on inverse dynamics and optimization techniques, to calculate the internal forces. A discussion of the formulations used in the context of the State-of-Art and of the applications presented to sports and health sciences cases helps appraising the collaborative work reported here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical inactive adults have higher incidence of cardiovascular and total mortality. Unfit subjects tend also to have higher mortality rates. The metabolic syndrome increases with age and tends to increase cardiovascular mortality. Higher levels of physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in children, adolescents, and adults improve metabolic syndrome features. Current physical activity guidelines for children, adolescents and adults lack evidence-based health-related criteria. There are biological, developmental, health and quality of life reasons for promoting physical activity in children and adolescents. However, the evidence base for these related criteria and the best means of promoting physical activity in children are scarce. Data from accelerometer studies suggest that the majority of children up to the mid-teens meet the recommended 60 minutes a day of moderate intensity physical activity. These studies have improved our capacity to measure several dimensions of physical activity. However, there remains some debate about the recommended levels of light, moderate and vigorous physical activity to improve energy balance, metabolic health, and prevent overweight and obesity. Data from the European Youth Heart Study with objectively measured physical activity (proportional actigraphy) suggest new recommendations based on metabolic health and the metabolic syndrome, i.e. the clustering metabolic cardiovascular risk factors such as elevated blood pressure, obesity, dyslipedemia, disturbed insulin and glucose metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction and close contact between humans and some animal species date from immemorial ages. Demographic evolution of human populations and the tendency for urban concentration have radically changed the type of relation and fruition by man of different animal species that have follow him up to urban environments. At the same time, there is an increase of the biological hazards and other dangers resulting from such interaction. In Portugal, there are few scientific publications related to the adaptation of animal species to the urban areas and, even less, concerning physical, mental or social impact in human health. Estimations of companion animal populations or synanthropic animal species are difficult to be obtained. Only through the commercialization of veterinary drugs is possible to have an approximation of the dimension of dog and cat populations. These data show, that in the last five years there was an increase in both populations size of 5.2% and 12.5%, respectively. There have also been efforts to calculate the population of pigeons in Lisbon urban area. Various social and economical indicators are presented and discussed suggesting a gradual awareness of these problems by feed and drug companies, dog and cat breed associations and council authorities. Lisbon Veterinary Faculty has been leading the research of animal diseases in urban areas. Over forty scientific and technical publications have been published addressing zoonotic diseases (leishmaniasis, toxoplasmosis, criptosporidiosis, equinococcosis, helmintiasis, salmonellosis), or mammary tumors and antibiotic resistance using dog and cat urban populations as models. From the analysis of the results and conclusions of such studies it is possible to verify that environmental alterations of natural habitats and consequent behavioural changes in individual and animal populations have increased the risk of physical and biological hazards for citizens. It is also stressed that there is a need for all private and public institutions to participate in the information and education of animal owners in order to reduce the physical and biological risks originated by companion animals and of citizens to respect and collaborate with public health authorities on promoting and maintaining a better urban environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a combination of factors that fuelled the BSE crisis in Portugal and highlights the relevant changes that the BSE epidemic compelled in the beef chain and products of bovine origin. An emphasis is made on the dilemma of communicating out of a food safety crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a changing World. Man is at the origin of many changes with impact in animal and human health. Among them we can refer the development of fast round-the-World transport, the industrialization and its environmental effects, the increasing complexity of the food chain, the urbanization and the technological development, allowing manipulation of disease agents and creating the present information centered society. These changes have an influence on the re-emergence of animal and human diseases which result, among other reasons, from the microbial adaptation and change, the infection of new populations, the use of new means of dispersion, the expansion of vectors, or even from the improved capacity of diagnosis and better community awareness. In this work some of these aspects are discussed and research contribution of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Lisbon is briefly referred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debaryomyces hansenii is a very peculiar spoilage microorganism: this yeast shows a good performance under concentrations of sodium chloride which prevent growth of most microorganisms. Here we report aspects of this behaviour and present data which support the theory that the salt loving nature of D. hansenii can be explained by the capability of the membrane potassium carriers to transport potassium into the cells, even in the presence of high concentrations of sodium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an overview on the development and application of state of the art integrated water modelling tools to study water pollution, either from urban or agricultural origin, from source to final destination, and also of the research carried out at IST in the framework of integrated water management is described. The modelling tools are used for computing the urban load in a sub-catchment of Lisbon metropolitan area for assessing the trophic levels of Tagus estuary and its relation with urban and agricultural loads. The strategy for modelling development at IST is also described, showing that modelling can be an important contribution for the integration of water management. Results have shown that modelling of the functioning of wastewater treatment plants is a mechanism for managing the urban wastewater loads and that the trophic level in the Tagus estuary is controlled by light penetration and not by nutrients. As a consequence, a reduction of the nutrient loads from urban origin or a 50% of the agricultural nutrient load would have no benefits in terms of trophic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the industrial production processes were developed in the 50s at the time of cheap and abundant raw materials, energy and water resources. The intensive use of water of good quality and the search for new processes/products aiming maximal profits led to scarcity and degradation of natural resources. Reducing material waste is one of the greatest challenges facing industry today. Because water is one of the industry's major waste products, the ability to reduce waste water would be a giant step in the direction of overall waste reduction. Water conservation and water use were considered justifiable only if they represented economic savings either in material recovering or in the avoidance of treatment costs. However, today's industrial facilities are constantly striving to operate more efficiently, and the most successful plans are relentless in their search for the following: higher product yields; beneficial use of by-products; improved energy efficiency; safer and more reliable operations; improved public image; reduced environmental impacts. This paper provides a systematic approach with four outstanding examples from diverse industries: Corrugated board; Dairy; Coke and Cork. The authors have combined the use of proven and accepted technologies and practices with some new emergent technologies developing a new systematic approach for minimizing net water usage at industrial facilities, presented it in a straight forward manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research and development portfolio of the metal forming group of Instituto Superior Técnico is driven by fundamental topics in the field of computer simulation and by the needs of manufacturing industries. The group was formed in the late 70's and conducts activities in bulk forming, sheet forming, tube forming and powder forming. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the activities of the metal forming group. The paper is organized around a number of examples that are representative of the activities of the group in the fields of numerical and experimental simulation of forming processes and of technology development and transfer into industrial companies. In what concerns numerical and experimental simulation the paper includes three-dimensional numerical modelling of the closed-die forging of spiders by means of the finite element flow formulation and modelling of the backward extrusion process by means of state-of-the-art meshless approaches. Collaboration with the industry is illustrated by means of selected joint partnerships with the Portuguese Mint House and with an industrial company producing intercoolers for automotives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present Portuguese forests resulted from reforestation in the context of socio-economic changes in rural areas, which have been occurring since middle of the 20th century. Hence, some of its vulnerabilities are related to the lack of tradition in the management of forests in a country where agriculture was the dominant activity until recently. In addition to the vulnerabilities resulting from inadequate management forests are facing today, as well as in the future, changes in the environment (climate) and in potentially harmful biotic invasions - e.g. pests and diseases - must be taken into account. Simultaneously, global markets change as well as the impact of agricultural and rural development policies on forestry. In spite of these constraints, it is a relevant sector for the national economy that claims for research results to support policies and management planning concerning its sustainability. This paper describes the national forest sector in its economic, social and environmental facets. Based on current research, we discuss some of the impacts of climate change scenarios and the new forest management paradigms on the forests of the future in the Portuguese continental territory.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial ecology is a broad framework for thinking and acting in the realm of sustainability. The name suggests, metaphorically, the blending of ecological systems and industrial economies. The ecological side offers possibilities to learn from observing resilient, robust, long-lived ecological communities as examples of sustainable systems. The industrial side suggests that society can move towards sustainable economies by embedding the principles learned from ecological systems to the design of firms and larger social institutions. Industrial Ecology promotes a holistic view of engineering systems where the system under analysis must be viewed in a global context. This framework is quite challenging and requires the development of a set of tools to bridge different scales, from site or product specific analysis to the whole economy diagnostic and from the economic to the socio-environmental dimension, thus resulting in a multi-disciplinary set of analytical tools. Providing an adequate framework for this "Industrial Ecology Toolbox" and putting it at the service of the promotion of sustainable development is the major objective of the R&D reported in this paper. R&D at IST-UTL on the development and application of different tools aimed at providing a coherent framework for this "Industrial ecology toolbox" is revised and its contribution to the promotion of sustainable development policies and practices in the socioeconomic arena is demonstrated with specific case-studies. The tools analyzed range from macroeconomic techniques to specific environmental analysis tools, and it was shown how other tools could be developed and used to promote the interaction between economic and environmental analysis within macro and micro-scales, thus enabling the design of more sustainable systems of different complexity levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is central to achieving sustainable social and economic development. As a matter of fact, it is not possible to achieve economic growth to satisfy current basic needs of Humanity without an intensive use of energy. On the other side, one of the main challenges for the use of energy in the negative effects of greenhouse gases on the global climates. Europe needs a greater security of supply and to achieve this goal it is necessary to competitive markets and efficient regulations. It also necessary to diversify energy mix and renewable energy sources could contribute to this objective. This paper presents the work performed by the Research Group on Energy and Sustainable Development of the Instituto Superior Técnico of the Technical University of Lisbon on new and renewable energy sources for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agronomy is an integrative science born as a synthesis of knowledge coming from biological and physico-chemical sciences, agricultural practices as changed by technological development and higher education schools. The knowledge obtained was very successfully introduced in agricultural practice. The success of agriculture and the negative impact of some agricultural practices as well as the specialization in science brought Agronomy into and identity crisis. The systems approach is presented as a tool to return to the future the integrative tradition of Agronomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the research being undertaken by the ALGOS/KDBIO and Biological Sciences groups of Instituto Superior Técnico on the field of bioinformatics and computational biology, with emphasis on the efforts under way to develop new approaches, methods and algorithms for the determination of gene regulatory networks. We put the field in perspective by first looking at recent developments in the field of bioinformatics, and how these developments contributed to the advance of science. We then describe the approach that is being followed, based on the development of algorithms and information systems for the problems of motif detection, gene expression analysis and inference of gene regulatory networks. We conclude by pointing out possible directions for future research in the fields of systems biology and synthetic biology, two critical areas for the development of science in the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multimedia information has been conquering a central role in our society in recent years. For multimedia services and applications to be possible, multimedia information has to be efficiently and effectively represented. This paper addresses three challenges in this area: coding, description and adaptation. In order for multimedia information to be used, it is essential that it is coded not only in an efficient way but also in an error resilient way due to the growing importance of error prone channels such as mobile networks; moreover it must allow random access, provide interactive capabilities, low complexity implementation, etc. Also the huge amount of multimedia information available requires efficient management in terms of identification, filtering and retrieval. Information that cannot be found is the same as information that does not exist. This capability asks for powerful ways to describe multimedia information, this means to create data about the data which allows to identify, filter and retrieve the data, making the data more useful for the simple fact that it can be effectively found when there is a need. Finally, the increasing heterogeneity of the multimedia consumption conditions in terms of networks, terminal, environments and users, is asking for content to be adequately adapted and customized in order the users get the best possible multimedia experience for the conditions in place. This paper describes research work developed at the Image Group of Instituto de Telecomunicações at Instituto Superior Técnico in the areas of the three main challenges above identified: coding, description and adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacterial exopolysaccharides (EPS) are a diverse and remarkably versatile class of materials that have potential applications in virtually all sectors of modern industry and economy. Currently, many biopolymers are still in the developmental stage, but important applications are beginning to emerge in the areas of food production and biomedicine. A few bacterial EPS can directly replace synthetically derived material in traditional applications, whereas others possess unique properties that can open up a range of new commercial opportunities. This is the case of the commercial important Sphingomonas elodea exopolysaccharide, gellan gum, one of the few bacterial gum with gelling properties. In its native form, gellan is a linear anionic heteropolysaccharide based on a tetrasaccharide repeat unit composed of 2 molecules of D-glucose, 1 of L-rhamnose and 1 of D-glucuronic acid. The native gellan is partially esterified with acyl substituents (1 mole of glycerate and 0.5 mol of acetate) per repeat unit. The significant changes in rheology observed upon deacylation of gellan are essentially due to the glycerate substituents. The potential for using gellan or gellan-like gums in industrial applications is determined by their physical properties. Metabolic engineering may be used as a tool to produce altered polysaccharides and/or to increase gellan production. The eventual success of this approach requires a detailed understanding of the molecular biology, biochemistry and physiology of its biosynthesis. Gellan biosynthesis starts with the intracellular formation of the nucleotide-sugar precursors, UDP-glucose, UDP-glucuronic acid and dTDP-Lrhamnose, whose pathway was elucidated. The synthesis of the sugar precursors is followed by the formation of the repeat unit, by sequential transfer of the sugar donors to an activated lipid carrier by committed glycosyltransferases, followed by gellan polymerization and export. Most of these gellan specific processes are catalysed by enzymes encoded in the gel cluster of genes. The identification of genes and the elucidation of crucial steps in the pathway, indicate that possibilities now exist for trying exerting control over gellan production, by modifying the expression of any of the individual genes or of groups of genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biotechnology methods provided a huge breakthrough in the knowledge of reproduction and development processes in mammals and opened new windows of opportunity for innovative enterprises in reproductive technologies in livestock and, in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries. In this paper we review our recent methodological and scientific developments and their integration in private commercially oriented enterprises. The first part of the paper contains examples on reproductive technologies (semen cryopreservation in the national equine breed, the Lusitano, and embryo transfer in dairy cattle) and the second part includes developmental biology studies on gene expression and genetic manipulation of the laboratory mouse and their prospects in the biotechnology industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The functional importance of Epigenetics arise from DNA sequencing programs that show the need for another code to explain the dynamics of gene expression patterns observed along cell differentiation and organism development. In this context, the study of ribosomal gene silencing is in fact an excellent model to better understand the relationships that are established between gene transcription and chromatin topology, and to unravel the epigenetic switches evolved in the framework of gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter describes the R&D activities which have been carried in the last 9 years at the CEBQ, with the specific objective of tackling some of the new scientific and technological challenges associated with the development of DNA vaccines. Following a brief introduction on the DNA vaccine topic, the research under way is described and some significant results are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifty year have passed since Solow's [21] paper on economic growth theory has been published. With a non-specialized reader in mind, we present the main ensuing phases of the theory and the way our own research relates to it. The history of growth theory is conventionally divided into two phases: until early 1970's, the research is labeled exogenous growth theory, and, starting in late 1980's until the present, the new growth or endogenous growth theory is being developed. We present the main models of both theories, the stylized facts of growth and a broad view on their compliance of theory with them. At last, we report some avenues that we have been exploring, as well as their motivation and results. This research addresses the topics: existence of multiple BGP's, indeterminacy, non-monotonous transitions and an exploration on the integration of spatial and growth theories using PDE's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rutherford and Hess experiment, in the first years of the XX century, mark the beginning of the experimental Particle and Astroparticle Physics. In the next one hundred years many, many discoveries were made, and we have now a much deeper understanding of the elementary constituents and of the fundamental interaction of the Universe. However, we know now at the beginning of the XXI century that most of the Universe (∼95%) is filled by mysterious entities, we have almost no idea about the dark matter and the dark matter energy. The present and future experimental program of Particle and Astroparticle Physics is ambitious and we may hope for considerable progress in the years to come. A short review of the participation of the LIP Portuguese teams in such program is briefly described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]