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A preservação da semântica é particularmente complexa quando o âmbito da partilha é interdisciplinar atendendo às idiossincrasias inerentes às diferentes comunidades de conhecimento. Uma potencial solução para transcender as fronteiras disciplinares envolve o uso da abordagem ontológica para a modulação de novos sistemas de organização do conhecimento. O uso de ontologias de alto nível ou de meta-modelos ontológicos como estruturas envolventes a outros sistemas de menor âmbito são possíveis exemplos da aplicação da referida abordagem em contexto interdisciplinar. Apesar da possível existência de algumas aplicações, uma adequação generalizada a diferentes perspetivas epistémicas é, dentro da cultura pós-moderna, olhada com grande ceticismo. Contrariando essa visão de incomensurabilidade, a existência de um horizonte comum à prática científica é apresentada como viável e não impeditivo da integração de diferentes perspetivas sobre o mesmo. Para tal é necessário diferenciar afirmações do que existe (ontologia) de critérios de testagem (metodologia) e não descartar nem confundir os três esquemas (percetivo, concetual e linguístico) evolvidos na relação entre sujeitos e respetivo milieu.

Contaminants of emerging concern have been increasingly associated with the modulation of the epigenome, leading to potentially inherited and persistent impacts on apical endpoints. Here, we address the performance of the OECD Test No. 236 FET (fish embryo acute toxicity) in the identification of chemicals able to modulate the epigenome. Using zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos, acute and chronic exposures were performed with the pharmaceutical, simvastatin (SIM), a widely prescribed hypocholesterolemic drug reported to induce inter and transgenerational effects. In the present study, the epigenetic effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of SIM (from 8 ng/L to 2000 ng/L) were addressed following (1) an acute embryo assay based on OECD Test No. 236 FET, (2) a chronic partial life-cycle exposure using adult zebrafish (90 days), and (3) F1 embryos obtained from parental exposed animals. Simvastatin induced significant effects in gene expression of key epigenetic biomarkers (DNA methylation and histone acetylation/deacetylation) in the gonads of exposed adult zebrafish and in 80 hpf zebrafish embryos (acute and chronic parental intergenerational exposure), albeit with distinct effect profiles between biological samples. In the chronic exposure, SIM impacted particularly DNA methyltransferase genes in males and female gonads, whereas in F1 embryos SIM affected mostly genes associated with histone acetylation/deacetylation. In the embryo acute direct exposure, SIM modulated the expression of both genes involved in DNA methylation and histone deacetylase. These findings further support the use of epigenetic biomarkers in zebrafish embryos in a high throughput approach to identify and prioritize epigenome-modulating chemicals.

Methylation microarray and bisulphite sequencing are often used to study 5'-methylcytosine (5'-mC) modification of CpG dinucleotides in the human genome. Although both technologies produce trustworthy results, the evaluation of the methylation status of CpG sites suffers from the potential side effects of DNA modification by bisulphite and/or the ambiguity of mapping short reads in repetitive and highly homologous genomic regions, respectively. Nanopore sequencing is an attractive alternative for the study of 5'-mC since it allows sequencing of native DNA molecules, whereas the long reads produced by this technology help to increase the resolution of those genomic regions. In this work, we show that nanopore sequencing with 10X coverage depth, using DNA from a human cell line, produces 5'-mC methylation frequencies consistent with those obtained by 450k microarray, digital restriction enzyme analysis of methylation, and reduced representation bisulphite sequencing. High correlation between methylation frequencies obtained by nanopore sequencing and the other methodologies was also noticeable in either low or high GC content regions, including CpG islands and transcription start sites. We also showed that a minimum of five reads per CpG yields strong correlations (>0.89) in replicate nanopore sequencing runs and an almost uniform linearity of the methylation frequency variation between zero and one. Furthermore, nanopore sequencing was able to correctly display methylation frequency patterns based on genomic annotations of CpG regions. These results demonstrate that nanopore sequencing is a fast, robust, and reliable approach to the study of 5'-mC in the human genome with low coverage depth. This work is a result of the GenomePT project (POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 – Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT). This work was also supported by Fundos FEDER through the Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade – COMPETE and by Fundos Nacionais through the FCT EPIGENETICS 1973 within the scope of the project UID/BIM/00009/2019 (Centre for Toxicogenomics and Human Health-ToxOmics) info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Introdução: Os linfomas são doenças neoplásicas que surgem a partir de células do tecido linfático e podem afetar qualquer órgão do corpo. Estas neoplasias consistem em células B e células T malignas. Os linfomas de células B são histologicamente classificados em linfoma de Hodgkin (HL) e linfoma não-Hodgkin (NHL). O linfoma de Hodgkin clássico (cHL) é o subtipo mais frequente de HL, composto por células Reed-Sternberg. Os linfomas não-Hodgkin consistem em linfoma difuso de grandes células B, o mais comum, linfoma folicular e linfoma do manto. O tratamento consiste em quimioterapia, radioterapia, imunoterapia ou uma combinação. A presença de doença residual mensurável (MRD) é determinada pela existência de células clonais previamente ao aparecimento de sinais e sintomas. PET/CT é comummente usado na avaliação da resposta ao tratamento e na identificação de recorrência, no entanto, a sua utilização na vigilância de recaída não demonstra melhoria do outcome. Objetivos: Este artigo aborda as limitações das atuais técnicas de monitorização de MRD e a necessidade de métodos mais sensíveis. Fonte de informação: pesquisa sistemática na PUBMED e MEDLINE, usando a seguinte query: "lymphoma + minimal residual disease + liquid biopsy". Critérios: estudos que envolvam adultos diagnosticados com cHL, DLBCL, FL e MCL, cujo MRD foi avaliado utilizando técnicas baseadas na biópsia líquida. Resultados: A aplicação de circulating-tumor DNA (ctDNA), new-generation sequencing e droplet-digital PCR são discutidos como potenciais alternativas para a determinação de MRD. Limitações: os artigos incluídos são maioritariamente observacionais e as características dos doentes envolvidos nos estudos variam, dentro da análise à mesma técnica. Implicações futuras: Estes métodos foram estudados de forma extensiva pelo seu potencial em detetar precocemente doença recorrente e abre a possibilidade de iniciar atempadamente um novo regime de tratamento ou permite a modificação da estratégia terapêutica. Background: lymphomas are neoplastic diseases arising from cells of the lymphatic tissue and can affect almost any organ in the body. They can arise from B or T cells. B lymphomas are histologically subclassified into Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is the most frequent subtype of HL, composed of Reed-Steinberg cells. Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of NHL, followed by follicular lymphoma (FL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). The treatment options for these lymphomas include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, or a combination. The existence of lymphoma clonal cells prior to clinical presentation is known as measurable residual disease (MRD). PET/CT is commonly used to evaluate treatment response and identify disease recurrence, but its use during disease surveillance has not led to improved outcomes. Objectives: this article emphasizes the limitations of current MRD monitoring techniques and the need for newer, more sensitive methods. Data sources: systematic search in PUBMED and MEDLINE databases, using the following query: "lymphoma + minimal residual disease + liquid biopsy" Study criteria: cHL, DLBCL, FL, and MCL adult patients whose MRD was assessed using novel liquid biopsy-based methodologies. Results: the use of circulating-tumor DNA, next-generation sequencing, and digital-droplet PCR are considered as potential alternatives for MRD assessment. Limitations: the articles that were included in the analysis are mainly observational studies, and patient characteristic differ between studies, within the same technique. Implications of key findings: these methods have been extensively researched for their potential to detect early disease relapse and open the possibility to start proactive salvage therapy or effectively change treatment strategy.

Introduction: More than 50% of all complications associated with laparoscopy occur during the entry phase for pneumoperitoneum and insertion of trocars. Major vascular injuries related to blind entry technique are infrequent, occurring in 0.04–0.1% of laparoscopic procedures. Nevertheless, 13%–50% of all vascular injuries are not detected immediately during the operation, resulting in correspondingly high morbidity and mortality rates. Major vascular injuries are the second most common cause of death during laparoscopy, after death from anesthesia, with a mortality rate of 6.37 %. The first reaction after vascular injury should not be conversion to laparotomy, but instead assessment and possible control of the injury. Obesity, previous abdominal surgeries, surgical experience, inflammatory bowel disease and pelvic inflammatory disease are known risk factors to injuries during the entry phase in laparoscopy. Clinical case: A 47 years old woman, BMI 42.2 kg/m2, without any previous abdominal surgery, was proposed to an elective left hemicolectomy after 2 diverticulitis episodes in a 6 months period, at a secondary hospital. As soon as the Veress needle was inserted, blood was seen. After the first trocar was placed, an median retroperitoneal inframesogastric hematoma was seen and the surgeon did an unsuccessful attempt to control the bleeding. Since there was hemodynamic instability, a conversion was made. An infrarrenal aortic laceration was seen and clamps were put in place to stop the bleeding. The patient was then transferred to a tertiary hospital to be intervened by vascular surgery. An aortoplasty with patch of the great safenous vein and trombectomy of the ilio-distal arteries was performed. The time occurred between the injury and the beginning of the vascular surgery was 2hours. The patient went to an Intensive Care Unit. A total of 15 red blood cells pool (first 2 without compatibility test), 12 plasma units, 3grams of fibrinogen and 1 pool of plaquelets were transfused. During the intensive care stay, the patient developed leg compartment syndrome, with the need of fasciectomy and a moderate ARDS, making it harder to manage the disease. Conclusion: Major Vascular lesions in laparoscopy surgery are rare but are associated with great morbidity and mortality. A close cooperation between laparoscopic surgeons, anesthesiologists, vascular surgeons and intensivists is needed to minimize the damage and the improve the result of the vascular repair. The existence of strict action protocols is necessary to minimize morbidity and mortality.

The introduction of medical devices and antibiotics into clinical practice have substantially improved patient quality of life and contributed to extended life expectancy. One of its most cumbersome consequences was the emergence of medical device-associated infections caused by multidrug-resistant and opportunistic bacteria such as Staphylococcus haemolyticus .

Within a highly competitive market context, quality standards are vital for the textile industry, in which related procedures to assess respective manufacture still mainly rely on human-based visual inspection. Thereby, factors such as ergonomics, analytical subjectivity, tiredness and error susceptibility affect the employee's performance and comfort in particular and impact the economic healthiness of each company operating in this industry, generally. In this paper, a defect detection-oriented platform for quality control in the textile industry is proposed to tackle these issues and respective impacts, combining computer vision, deep learning, geolocation and communication technologies. The system under development can integrate and improve the production ecosystem of a textile company through a properly adapted information technology setup and associated functionalities such as automatic defect detection and classification, real-time monitoring of operators, among others., This work was financed by the project “Smart Production Process” (No. POCI-01-0247-FEDER-045366), supported under the Incentive System for Research and Technological Development - Business R&DT (Individual Projects).

The inclusion of environmental enrichment in conventional broiler rearing can increase mobility, bone mass and muscle. This research aimed to evaluate the use of environmental enrichment in the rearing of broilers at different ages and its influence on performance, morphometry, yield and weight of the parts. It was used the completely randomized design in split-plot scheme, being the plots the treatments presence (T1) and absence (T2) of environmental enrichment and the subplots the broiler ages (1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days), with 56 chicks in each treatment (T1 and T2). Data obtained were analyzed by the linear effect model of fixed effects and compared by Tukey’s test of means. The animals were raised in a controlled environment, divided into four boxes with dimensions: 1.5 × 1.0 × 0.7 m, containing rice straw bed. In T1 a ladder with a perch on top was used, distributed every 1.5 m2. Environmental enrichment used did not influence broiler’s zootechnical performance. Broilers’ morphometric properties, parts weight and body weight increased due to environmental enrichment and, improvement was observed in chicks rearing’s final phase. The environmental enrichment was beneficial for muscle and bone mass gain in the main commercial parts of the chicken carcass, in addition to reducing the allometric coefficient of the breasts in chickens. RESUMO A inclusão do enriquecimento ambiental na criação convencional dos frangos de corte pode causar aumento na mobilidade, massa óssea e músculos. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar o uso do enriquecimento ambiental na criação de frangos de corte em diferentes idades e sua influencia no desempenho, morfometria, rendimento e peso das partes. Foi utilizado o delineamento inteiramente casualizado em esquema de parcelas subdivididas, sendo que, nas parcelas foram alocados os tratamentos presença (T1) e ausência (T2) de enriquecimento ambiental e nas subparcelas as idades dos frangos (1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 e 42 dias), com 56 aves em cada tratamento (T1 e T2). Os dados obtidos foram analisados pelo modelo linear de efeitos fixos e comparados pelo teste de médias de Tukey. Os animais foram criados em ambiente controlado, dividido em quatro boxes com dimensões: 1,5 × 1,0 × 0,7 m, contendo cama de palha de arroz. Em T1 utilizou-se uma escada com poleiro no topo distribuída a cada 1,5 m2. O uso de enriquecimento ambiental não influenciou no desempenho zootécnico dos frangos de corte. As propriedades morfométricas, peso das partes e o peso corporal dos frangos de corte aumentaram, devido ao uso do enriquecimento ambiental; essa melhoria foi observada na fase final de criação das aves. O enriquecimento ambiental foi benéfico para ganho de massa muscular e óssea nas principais partes comerciais da carcaça de frango, além de reduzir o coeficiente alométrico dos peitos dos frangos.

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Data Science and Advanced Analytics, specialization in Data Science The Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning algorithms (ML) are enabling a revolutionary change in digitization in numerous areas, benefiting Industry 4.0 in particular. Predictive maintenance using machine learning models is being used to protect assets in industry. In this paper, an architecture for predicting anomalies in industrial processes was proposed in which SMEs can be guided in implementing an IIoT architecture for predictive maintenance (PdM). This research was conducted to understand what machine learning architectures and models are generally used by industry for PdM. An overview of the concepts of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), machine learning (ML), and predictive maintenance (PdM) was provided, and through a systematic literature review, it was possible to understand their applications and which technologies enable their use. The survey revealed that PdM applications are increasingly common and that there are many studies on the development of new ML techniques. The survey conducted confirmed the usefulness of the artifact and showed the need for an architecture to guide the implementation of PdM. This research can be a contribution for SMEs, allowing them to become more efficient and reduce both production and maintenance costs in order to keep up with multinational companies.

The forehand drive in tennis is considered essential in the performance of athletes. Despite several studies in biomechanics, there are unexplored issues and methodologies that may contribute to a better understanding of the key factors in performance and greater efficiency to capture kinematic data contributing to a positive impact for tennis players. Therefore, the first study aimed to compare the contribution of the upper limb to racket speed among intermediate and experienced tennis players. The results showed that what differentiate the two groups is the contribution of the shoulder to the racket head velocity. In order to use the same method with elite athletes in real situation with a simpler methodology, the second study aimed to validate an inertial measurement unit system. The results of this study demonstrated a high degree of confidence to collect kinematic data in the forehand drive. After this validation, in the third study we determined the contribution of the upper limbs to the racket head velocity in elite players, in the field. The results showed some differences when compared to previous studies using the same methodology, these differences may be related to the level of the players or the type of the stroke. Finally, the fourth study aimed to determine the moments of force of the dominant upper limb between a forehand in a quasi-static stance and a dynamic frontal weight transfer stance forehand. The results showed a higher load on the joints during the forehand in quasi-static stance. We can conclude that the results obtained during the various studies may contribute to a greater knowledge of coaches to help athletes to achieve a better performance in the forehand drive, as well as health professionals to understand which techniques may be associated with a higher load on the joints. O batimento de direita no ténis é considerado decisivo na performance dos atletas. Apesar de vários estudos ao nível da biomecânica, existem questões e metodologias inexploradas que poderão contribuir para uma melhor compressão de fatores chave na performance dos tenistas. O primeiro estudo teve como objetivo comparar a contribuição do membro superior para velocidade da raquete entre jogadores de nível intermédio e experientes. Os resultados demonstraram que o que diferencia os dois grupos é a contribuição do ombro para a velocidade da cabeça da raquete. Para utilizarmos o mesmo método com atletas de elite em situação real e com uma metodologia menos pesada do ponto de vista da sua preparação, o segundo estudo teve como objetivo validar um sistema de sensores inercias. Os resultados deste estudo demonstraram que podemos recolher com confiança os dados cinemáticos neste movimento através de um sistema de sensores inerciais. Após esta validação, no terceiro estudo determinámos a contribuição dos membros superiores para a velocidade da cabeça da raquete em jogadores de elite, no campo. Os resultados demonstraram algumas diferenças quando comparados com estudos prévios utilizando a mesma metodologia, estas diferenças poderão estar relacionadas com a diferença do nível de jogadores ou o tipo de batimento. Por último, o quarto estudo teve como objetivo determinar os momentos de força do membro superior dominante entre um batimento apoiado e um batimento dinâmico. Os resultados demonstraram uma maior carga nas articulações durante o batimento em apoio. Podemos concluir que os resultados obtidos durante os vários estudos poderão contribuir para um maior conhecimento dos treinadores no sentido de ajudar os atletas a atingir uma melhor performance no batimento de direita, bem como os profissionais de saúde a perceber quais os batimentos que poderão estar associados a uma maior carga nas articulações.

The oil and gas industry is lagging behind many industries in the adoption of technology and digital transformation. Our industry must transform at speed and scale to reap the available benefits of such technologies. Managing well integrity through personnel physical presence at the wellsite to take recordings increases the time to react to issues, the time to collect data, and the time to implement actions, and the high field trip rates introduce an increased risk to employees. A digital wellhead integrated system (DWIS) provides information on wellhead parameters from smart instrumentation and achieves operational intelligence via edge computing. This solution improves the response time between production data and field actions to optimize and improve operational performance following workflow parameters. DWIS provides real-time monitoring, data collection, and management of well conditions, which minimizes the effects of human interactions, while providing consistent information that can be used for future health maintenance activities thus mitigating the risk of unexpected events. Cost efficient remote monitoring and control of well activities prolongs the life of the well and promotes savings. The DWIS has been deployed and successfully tested in North America, South America, and the Middle East. A single DWIS implemented with a client resulted in production gains of 400,000 bbl./yr. and reduced 10,000 miles of driving—reducing the carbon footprint in a harsh environment. By providing human intelligence at the wellsite through edge computing and smart instrumentation, data can be generated, and actions taken to reduce expensive unplanned maintenance, offline outages, resource-intensive costs, and carbon footprint. Furthermore, this infrastructure at the wellsite enables ideas for new workflow implementation such as site monitoring via computer vision and more elaborate production and optimization workflows, creating a truly intelligent asset. DWIS maintain well integrity and provide continuous monitoring to optimize oil and gas production. This DWIS supports well integrity maintenance strategies providing real-time control and well optimization enabled by smart instrumentation, surveillance systems, and intelligent workflows powered by artificial intelligence/machine learning algorithms executed at the edge and, in some instances, at the cloud level.

Num contexto atual, marcado pela intensificação das preocupações ambientais a nível mundial e pela necessidade de mudança, a implementação de inovações verdes, por parte das PMEs, como forma de melhorar o seu desempenho ambiental, enquanto contribuem para o seu crescimento económico, é cada vez mais uma necessidade. Atendendo a que, segundo o European Innovation Scoreboard 2021, Portugal registou uma quebra na inovação ao nível das PMEs, o propósito desta pesquisa é analisar a abordagem à inovação verde das PMEs mais inovadoras, em Portugal, com a finalidade de potenciar a inovação nas PMEs de uma forma mais verde. A metodologia seguida baseia-se em estudos de caso, suportados por entrevistas semiestruturadas e por documentação, direcionados a uma amostra de 13 PMEs inovadoras, localizadas em Portugal. Concluiu-se que as práticas atualmente implementadas pelas empresas analisadas visam a minimização do seu impacto ambiental, através da redução do consumo de recursos e por via da gestão adequada dos resíduos. O sucesso da implementação de inovações verdes depende, essencialmente, do estabelecimento de uma orientação ambiental na empresa e da promoção de uma cultura de inovação, em toda a empresa de uma forma transversal. Acesso a serviços de consultoria, benefícios fiscais/outros incentivos, financiamento externo, departamento interno de investigação, desenvolvimento e inovação e estabelecer parcerias com entidades externas, são aceleradores da inovação verde. O custo do investimento, a mentalidade da sociedade, o atual panorama mundial, a burocracia e falta de flexibilidade do sistema, e a legislação, são os principais obstáculos à implementação de inovações verdes identificados. In a current context, marked by the intensification of environmental concerns worldwide and the need for change, the implementation of green innovations, by SMEs, as a way to improve their environmental performance, while contributing to their economic growth, is an increasing necessity. Given that, according to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2021, Portugal has experienced a drop in innovation at the SME level, the aim of this research is to analyse the approach to green innovation of the most innovative SMEs, in Portugal, with the purpose of enhancing innovation in SMEs in a greener way. The methodology followed is based on case studies, supported by semi-structured interviews and documentation, directed to a sample of 13 innovative SMEs located in Portugal. It was concluded that the practices currently implemented by the analysed companies aim to minimize their environmental impact, by reducing resource consumption and through proper waste management. The successful implementation of green innovations depends, essentially, on establishing an environmental orientation in the company and promoting an innovation culture throughout the company in a transversal way. Access to consulting services, tax benefits/other incentives, external funding, internal research, development and innovation department and establishing partnerships with external entities, are accelerators of green innovation. The cost of investment, the mentality of society, the current world scenario, the bureaucracy and lack of flexibility of the system, and legislation, are the main obstacles to the implementation of green innovations identified.

Dissertação de Mestrado (Mestrado em Arquitetura Área de Cultura Arquitetónica), A atualidade é marcada pela necessidade de dar aos animais uma qualidade de vida melhor. Essa melhoria, passa pela atuação em quatro vertentes fundamentais: o controlo da atividade e dos espaços sob responsabilidade de criadores profissionais; uma ação pedagógica junto daqueles que têm animais nas suas casas, atuando sobre a alimentação, educação e cuidados de higiene; a melhoria dos espaços de acolhimento institucionais, nomeadamente canis públicos e associativos; e o repensar dos espaços urbanos contribuindo para uma melhor coexistência entre espécies. No âmbito dos espaços de acolhimento institucionais, a conjugação entre as novas leis que impedem o abate de animais, contribuindo para o aumento das situações de sobrelotação, e a falta de recursos humanos e económicos, contribuem para a crescente desadequação dos espaços de acolhimento. A presente tese, pretende através do desenvolvimento de um projeto, contribuir para a transformação positiva dos espaços de acolhimento de animais, contribuindo para que deixem de ser vistos como simples espaços de privação da liberdade. Após uma breve caracterização do tema do abandono animal no contexto português, é feita uma apresentação de projetos de arquitetura nos quais os animais são o seu mote. Analisam-se obras que podem constituir exemplo, nas quais o programa e a tipologia sugerem novos equilíbrios entre as necessidades da espécie humana e as das espécies que presentemente se encontram numa situação de grande vulnerabilidade. Num segundo momento procura-se evidenciar relações estabelecidas entre a arquitetura, as formas e os conceitos encontrados na natureza, relembram-se interceções entre o mundo vegetal, mineral e animal e identificam-se premissas para a construção e distribuição programática do abrigo. Num último momento, apresenta-se detalhadamente a proposta, partindo da escolha do local, à definição do programa base, critérios de implantação e organização, princípios de construção e materialidade. Um conjunto de espaços que respondem às novas exigências da legislação, que respeitam as condições especificas dos animais ao mesmo tempo que contribuem para a transformação da forma como nós, humanos, com eles nos relacionamos., The present is marked by the need to give animals a better quality of life. This improvement involves action in four fundamental aspects: the control of the activity and spaces under the responsibility of professional creators; a pedagogical action with those who have animals in their homes, acting on food, education and hygiene care; the improvement of institutional reception spaces, namely public and associative kennels; and the rethinking of urban spaces contributing to a better coexistence between species. Within the scope of institutional reception spaces, the combination of the new laws that prevent the slaughter of animals, contributing to the increase in situations of overcrowding, and the lack of human and economic resources, contribute to the growing inadequacy of reception spaces. This thesis intends, through the development of a project, to contribute to the positive transformation of animal reception spaces, helping them to stop being seen as simple spaces of deprivation of liberty. After a brief characterization of the theme of animal abandonment in the Portuguese context, a presentation of architectural projects in which animals are their motto is made. Works that may constitute an example are analyzed, in which the program and the typology suggest new balances between the needs of the human species and those of species that currently find themselves in a situation of great vulnerability. In a second moment, we seek to highlight relationships established between architecture, forms and concepts found in nature, recall intersections between the plant, mineral and animal world and identify premises for the construction and programmatic distribution of the shelter. Finally, the proposal is presented in detail, starting from the choice of location, the definition of the base program, implementation and organization criteria, construction principles and materiality. A set of spaces that respond to the new requirements of legislation, that respect the specific conditions of animals while contributing to the transformation of the way we humans relate to them.