Repositório RCAAP

Globally, land use/cover is facing irreversible damages caused by human activities and climate changes. These damages have occurred as a result of land conversions from natural and seminatural areas to anthropogenic uses such as urbanisation and intensive agricultural practices. Land conversions correspond to one of the main environmental threats characterised by a complex interconnection between different dimensions. One of the better approaches to assess these threats is through the creation of effective land-use planning instruments with the support of stakeholders. This can contribute to helping decision-makers to better identify, evaluate and anticipate potential land-use changes. This chapter proposes a conceptual framework to develop a better participatory planning process using complex spatial models and by engaging stakeholders. It is divided into four steps: (1) problem identification (by identifying the case study/stakeholders and establishing a time horizon), (2) future needs (by designing ‘what-if’ scenarios), (3) simulation of scenarios (by using spatially explicit dynamic models to explore future land use and land cover changes) and (4) policy recommendations (by creating land-use strategies). This analysis suggests that more participative planning and more action-oriented territorial development are required.

Mapping and Forecasting Land Use: The Present and Future of Planning is a comprehensive reference on the use of technologies to map land use, focusing on GIS and remote sensing applications and methodologies for land use monitoring. This book addresses transversal topics such as urbanisation, biodiversity loss, climate change, ecosystem services and participatory planning, with the pros and cons of various aerial technologies in mapping and land use. It follows a multidisciplinary approach and provides opinions and evidence from leading researchers working in academic institutions across the globe. The book's second half moves from theory and research advancement into case studies, compiling global examples to provide real-world context and evidence of the techniques and applications. Mapping and Forecasting Land Use is a valuable guide for graduates, academics and researchers in the fields of geography, geographic information science and land use science who want to effectively apply GIS and remote sensing capabilities to mapping or wider land studies. Researchers in geosciences, environmental science and agriculture will also find this of value in utilising 21st-century technologies in their field.

No presente artigo vou refletir sobre fanzines e migração, considerando os fanzines como objetos artísticos e espaços onde desenvolvem-se discursos e representações que encontram-se no borde, na fronteira, no margem, tal e como a materialidade do objeto se apresenta. As ferramentas epistemológicas desenvolvidas ao redor da fronteira (ANZALDÚA, 1987; LICONA, 2012) e o lugar desde se constrói conhecimento (FUSS, 1989; HARAWAY, 191, HARDING, 1986; RIBEIRO, 2017) será atravessado pelas lógicas da circulação e criação de fanzines. Os fanzines que aparecem neste artigo têm dois denominadores comuns: o país de Portugal é ou bem o lugar de recepção de narrativas fronteiriças ou bem o lugar de surgimento das mesmas, e a outra característica em comum é que os fanzines desafiarão as representações do sexo, género e sexualidade. Isto também colocará os estudos de género como ponto de apoio de tudo o artigo.

At the core of global initiatives, several relevant adaptive management and policy approaches are being discussed and redirected towards achieving global food production objectives and food security for the present and future generations. In particular, agricultural land systems are the principal biogeophysical source to ensure food security and nutritional benefits. However, agricultural land systems change over time, indirectly influencing global food production and food security. Thus, in the coming decades, agricultural land systems will face complex challenges (e.g. the changing of food consumption pattern, climate change, land abandonment and/or intensification); the extent to which they will be able to support the security of the global food system will be determined by their efficiency, sustainability and equitability. With the integration of spatial analysis, geospatial data and land-change models, there is a practical opportunity for modelling agricultural land systems. This, in turn, can provide meaningful information to assist decision-making processes, anticipate future changes and design robust strategies in the long term to manage impending challenges.

With the growth in tourism demand as a vital economic activity worldwide, the tourism system may reach critical thresholds, encompassing transformations of territories towards its touristification. This process has led to land use/cover change (LUCC). In Portugal high levels of tourism demand have resulted in a tourism development model set on land use artificialisation and intensification. Even though tourism development has spatial implications, there are few empirical studies in the literature, mostly because tourism direct LUCC is difficult to track. This book chapter proposes a Cellular Automata–Agent-based model to integrate tourism demand forecasts and suitable areas for future tourism development to explore LUCC in 2030 in a region in Southwest Portugal. The results inform spatial planners and decision-makers when designing land use policies that by 2030 patterns of tourism demand increase of 3.5% may result in a 61% increase in tourism LUCC.

Retrotransposable elements (RE) are DNA sequences that have the ability to change position within the genome. They are present in most organisms and often comprise a large part of their genome. Because of their mobilization, REs are an intrinsic source of DNA damage and mutations that can alter gene activity. Even though some of these mutations can eventually drive evolutionary novelty at the population and species scales, more often, the RE-driven mutations are deleterious and lead to genomic instability and disease at the individual scale. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that hosts have evolved transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms that repress REs activity. Recent studies have correlated increased expression of REs with age and age-related diseases, such as neurodegenerative disorders, which is suspected to be due to the tendency of RE silencing mechanisms to fail over time. However, it remains unclear whether RE de-repression is a cause or a consequence of the age-dependent cellular loss of function. The goal of this project is to determine if retrotransposition of long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE1 or L1) can be a cause of neurodegeneration and neural function decline if it is not repressed by the organism. To evaluate the effects of continuous expression of L1 in the nervous system in such a context, we developed a heterologous system that allows tissue-specific expression, using the GAL4-UAS system, of an L1 of the mosquito Anopheles gambiae (AgL1) in the evolutionary-distant fly Drosophila melanogaster. Mosquitos and flies have evolved separately for about 250 million years, so it is expected that their anti-RE systems no longer recognize each other. We confirmed the expression of AgL1 transcripts in the adult fly nervous system using reverse transcription-quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and of the AgL1-encoded proteins, ORF1p and ORF2p, by immunohistochemistry using antibodies against V5 and HA epitopes, which respectively tag each protein in our construct. Further immunohistochemistry assays using an anti-phosphorylated histone H2Av antibody, which indicates the presence of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs), showed that AgL1-expressing flies had higher DSB levels in neural cells than their controls. However, immunostaining using anti-activated caspase, a programmed-cell death indicator, revealed similar levels of neuronal death in both conditions. Neuronal performance of ageing flies was analyzed using negative geotaxis (climbing) assays 2, 20, 30, and 40 days after eclosion. We observed a statistically significant decrease in climbing ability in flies expressing AgL1 in the neurons, compared to their age-matched controls. Expression of AgL1 in glial cells, in contrast, had no significant effect on climbing ability, suggesting that neurons are particularly sensitive to AgL1 activity. Feeding stavudine - a known retrotransposition inhibitor - to ageing flies expressing AgL1 in neurons partially rescued their decreased climbing ability, suggesting AgL1 retrotransposition or its attempts had a causal role in the locomotor function decrease. AgL1 retrotransposition capability was further evaluated using an established exogenous cell culture retrotransposition assay for human cells and a custom-modified retrotransposition assay for fly cells. We were able to demonstrate AgL1 retrotransposition in human HeLa cells, but not in Drosophila melanogaster DL2 cells. This suggests that the decrease in climbing ability of AgL1-expressing flies is the result of DNA damage caused by L1 retrotransposition attempts, rather than full retrotransposition events.

In order to contain COVID-19 disease dissemination, originated by SARS-CoV-2 viral infection, the Portuguese government took several actions during the country’s second wave. One of such measures was the separation of municipalities into two risk levels, according to their 14 day-cumulative incidence, with containment measures applied according to each level. The objective of this master’s project was to evaluate if this type of targeted containment measures were effective in halting or even reducing the pandemic growth. The aforementioned evaluation was performed using two variables, regularly used to monitor the estate of the pandemic, the number of daily positive COVID-19 tests and the number of daily deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Using an Interrupted Time Series analysis, both variables were modelled trough an impact model with the objective of comparing the pre intervention trend with the post intervention trend. The results show a significant negative change in the regression slope, either for daily tests (p-value < 0.001) as for deaths (p-value < 0.001). The Two-Risk level division of the Portuguese municipalities and application of containment measures according to the level was effective in controlling viral dispersion, either in reducing the number of positive tests as well as the number of daily deaths. Although expected that this type of containment measures will not produce the same level of control as the general confinement of the population, it can still create a significant positive impact while having an estimated smaller socioeconomic impact compared to the impact generated by a full lockdown. As such, targeted containment measures should be considered in future COVID-19 outbreaks as well as in controlling the dissemination of future viruses with pandemic potential.

Currently, we live in a society that is permanently awake and it is necessary to be available almost 24 hours a day, every day. This happens, mostly, due to technology potentialities that have been adopted as a vital part in diverse areas of our lives (work, knowledge, learning, pleasure/fun, socializing) and it is clear to understand population’s priorities have been changing over time, and there are issues that are becoming more an more relevant in our world, between being with family and spending quality time with friends, give a full response to all work demands, competitive pressure, among other issues. Sleep is a primary need that ends up being relegated to the background by day-to-day tasks, compromising quality of life. Having poor quality and quantity of sleep can bring health problems in the future. The value of sleep in an individual’s life is undeniable, particularly for the young ones who are in an extremely critical period of their lives when they must balance not only college but also social life, extracurricular activities, and sometimes a job. All of this leads to a reduced sleep time to be able to have time for other activities. Students with a good quality of sleep have better grades and fewer curricular classes left behind. The data analyzed in this work corroborate the idea that effectively sleep is essential for, not only a healthy life and a good quality of life but also an excellent academic success. This project aims to identify and analyze sleep habits of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon’s (FCUL) students, through an online questionnaire, as well as to identify are the factors that contribute to sleep quality - quantified by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) -, and, in the end, analyze if sleep quality influences academic success. 902 students answered answered to the questionnaire (902 students), whom consider that their sleep quality has in general worsened during university period when compared to high school, about 70% of students have a poor quality of sleep and only 40% of them say they feel satisfied with their sleep quality and 53% refers that they feel little or nothing satisfied. Sleep schedules are different during the week and the weekend. Students sleep less hours daily during the week and replace them, or try to, during the weekend. Around 20% sleep less than 6 hours daily per week. There are also differences in what concerns bedtime and getting up time during the weekdays and weekend, and female students have earlier sleep schedules. There is also a variation in sleep schedules comparing exams season and the semester, with more students referring to have a better quality of sleep during the semester. Through logistic regression, with the model obtained it was possible to predict correctly all the observations in about 71.86%. About 70% of students have a poor quality of sleep.

As florestas de mangal têm vindo a ser mundialmente reconhecidas como importantes zonas de viveiro para larvas de peixe e juvenis. Apesar da reconhecida importância destes sistemas para a gestão de recursos pesqueiros, o conhecimento quanto às comunidades de larvas de peixe que existem em mangais insulares é, ainda, escasso, e consequentemente o potencial das florestas de mangal na ilha de São Tomé como zonas de viveiro continua desconhecido. Durante quatro semanas entre os meses de outubro e novembro de 2020, as comunidades larvares de peixes de duas florestas de mangal da ilha de São Tomé foram amostradas com recurso a armadilhas de luz, redes de cerco e redes de plâncton usando uma abordagem multi-habitat. Para suplantar a falta de informação necessária para a identificação das larvas, um conjunto de métodos morfológicos e moleculares foram utilizados para a identificação dos exemplares. Um total de 4 010 larvas foram recolhidas, pertencentes a 16 famílias e contabilizando 27 espécies. Um pequeno número de espécies dominou a comunidade de ictioplâncton, em que as famílias Cichlidae (47%), representada pela invasora Oreochromis mossambicus, e Gobiidae (43%) com sete espécies encontradas, totalizaram cerca de 90% da comunidade de larvas capturadas. As restantes 14 famílias representaram apenas 10% da comunidade, sendo que três espécies são novos registos para os habitats de mangal na ilha e três espécies são novos registos para a ilha de São Tomé. A riqueza e diversidade de espécies variou consoante o método de amostragem. A maior riqueza específica foi registada no mangal de Malanza (27 espécies) enquanto que a Praia das Conchas (9 espécies) não revelou valores semelhantes de biodiversidade. Foram encontradas diferenças nas comunidades larvares entre diferentes locais em cada um dos dois mangais, revelando uma forte influência do tipo de habitat. Os padrões espaciais de diversidade revelaram uma fraca influência por parte de variáveis ambientais como a temperatura e oxigénio dissolvido. Onze espécies encontradas em forma larvar ou juvenil têm interesse comercial e a sua presença numa fase de vida precoce nos mangais de São Tomé reforça a necessidade de conservação destes ecossistemas e com implicações diretas para a sustentabilidade das pescarias locais.

One of the most important features of topographic maps is the stream network. Its accurate representation is essential for several applications. This work evaluates the quality of the stream network representation of Brazil and Portugal's official topographic maps. These maps were produced using different scales (1:10,000, 1:25,000, and 1:50,000) and methods (photo interpretation and automatic drainage network extraction). The intention of this analysis is to focus on quality data analysis, optimization and reduction of management costs, and the achievement of better planning. To assess the completeness and positional quality, two actions were taken. The first, concerning the completeness assessment, used the methodology proposed by ISO 19157. The second is related to positional quality analysis using the Buffer Overlay Statistical Method. Results show that completeness and positional errors can appear at different locations, intensities, and scales and may promote changes in the extent and direction of mapped watercourses, drainage density, and consequently the size of the watersheds.

No summary/description provided

A capacidade de produzir movimento é importante para uma grande variedade de organismos, dos mais simples aos mais complexos. De facto, é graças a movimentos como a locomoção que a maioria dos organismos são capazes de procurar alimento ou fugir de predadores. A base por detrás deste controlo de movimento é descrita como sendo bastante conservada entre organismos de complexidades bastante distintas, como por exemplo entre vertebrados (como os mamíferos) e invertebrados (como os insetos). Ambos os grupos apresentam um sistema nervoso central dividido em duas secções, o cérebro e a espinal medula (ou cordão nervoso). A Drosophila melanogaster, mais conhecida como mosca da fruta, é um modelo de invertebrado extremamente utilizado graças à facilidade com que se obtêm grandes amostras em curto espaço de tempo, possuindo ainda um conjunto de ferramentas genéticas bastante variado. Este é um modelo bastante comum no estudo do movimento e da locomoção, por ser relativamente bem conhecida a rede que está por detrás do controlo motor. A informação começa por partir de centros de ordem superior, que a partir de neurónios descendentes chegam do cérebro ao cordão nervoso central (equivalente em inseto à espinal medula). Aqui, a informação é transmitida através de interneurónios, que em conjunto com os geradores de padrão centrais (responsáveis pela criação de sinais nervosos cíclicos e periódicos), vão fazer chegar aos músculos, via neurónios motores, ordens para contrair ou distender. Contudo, o sistema necessita de receber informação de volta, de modo a saber se o movimento está a ser produzido de forma controlada, para providenciar a capacidade de obter controlo motor fino, assim como para informar sobre estímulos que venham de fora do organismo. Para que esta informação volte para o sistema, são necessárias estruturas de proprioceção associadas a neurónios sensoriais. Na mosca da fruta, existem quatro estruturas sensoriais na pata que fazem parte do sistema propriocetivo, sendo elas as Mechanosensory bristles (MB), as Hair plates (HP), o Chordotonal organ (CO) e as Campaniform sensilla (CS). Cada uma destas estruturas está dedicada a informar o sistema neuronal sobre um tipo específico de estímulos: as MB são a fonte de informação sobre estímulos táteis na cutícula, dada a ausência de outros recetores neste exosqueleto rígido; as HP são responsáveis por informar sobre a posição de segmentos adjacentes da pata; o CO providencia informação sobre o ângulo da pata em cada momento; e por fim, as CS são sensores de carga, responsáveis por informar o corpo sobre deformações no exoesqueleto causadas por pressão aplicada sobre o corpo da mosca, ou quando a pata é pousada no solo. Todas estas estruturas já foram descritas e sua função estudada durante a locomoção, com especial ênfase para o CO. Contudo, a informação sobre o papel destas estruturas como iniciadores de movimento continuava por descrever. Este foi o início de um projeto no laboratório Neurogenética da locomoção (CEDOC), do Dr. César Mendes e aluna de doutoramento Alexandra Medeiros. Neste projeto, utilizando optogenética (técnica que tem por base o uso de luz em certos comprimentos de onda para despolarizar neurónios específicos, graças a canais iónicos sensíveis à luz) para estimular estas estruturas sensoriais, foi possível observar que cada uma das estruturas produzia um padrão motor específico. Três das estruturas (MB, HP e CO) produziam uma locomoção para a frente, com padrões de resposta distintos entre as três, contudo as CS produziam um comportamento motor completamente diferente. Quando ativadas, estas estruturas faziam com que a mosca andasse para trás, virasse para uma outra direção, e depois prosseguisse com marcha à frente nessa outra direção. Foi também descrito que três das quatro estruturas (HP, CO e CS) necessitavam de circuitos no cérebro para produzir o seu padrão motor, dado que quando decapitadas, as moscas não reagiam ao estímulo luminoso. De modo a compreender melhor o que poderia produzir este comportamento originário da ativação das campaniform sensilla, foi estudado o seu padrão de expressão, que parecia demonstrar que as células marcadas nas patas projetavam cada uma para o respetivo neurópilo do cordão nervoso central. Contudo, mostrou também um conjunto de projeções vindas das antenas, e que inervavam os lóbulos antenais. Com receio de que o comportamento fosse originário destas projeções, foram testadas moscas que tinham as antenas amputadas, e que continuavam a produzir o mesmo padrão motor. O presente projeto tem assim como objetivos: I) descrever o comportamento motor produzido aquando da ativação das campaniform sensilla, assim como investigar a função das antenas no mesmo; II) testar o comportamento das moscas quando as CS são inativadas; III) criar um paradigma que possibilite o teste destas estruturas sensoriais em moscas em movimento; IV) investigar os intermediários entre o estímulo das campaniform sensilla e o padrão motor originado; V) e por fim, fazer um pequeno rastreio de linhas que possam servir como novas ferramentas para o estudo das campaniform sensilla, utilizando o sistema Split-Gal4. Na primeira secção do estudo das campaniform sensilla, observámos que a estimulação das mesmas de facto produz um padrão motor trifásico, composto por um momento de velocidade de valor negativo (marcha à ré), seguido de um momento de elevada velocidade angular (consistente com a viragem), e um momento de velocidade de valor positivo (marcha à frente, após a viragem). De seguida, tirando partido dos dados obtidos anteriormente no laboratório para moscas com as antenas amputadas, e utilizando um segundo grupo de moscas com o sistema de expressão alterado para restringir a expressão à cabeça, mostramos como as moscas sem antenas produzem um comportamento similar ao comportamento das moscas originais, e que a estimulação das projeções das antenas produz um padrão motor distinto daquele previamente observado. Na segunda secção do estudo, tentamos criar um novo paradigma que permite estimular as moscas optogeneticamente, durante a sua locomoção, fazendo-as atravessar uma linha laser. Contudo, este paradigma mostrou-se não eficaz para as linhas em estudo no projeto, e, portanto, foi abandonado. Na terceira secção utilizámos um conjunto de túneis em que a altura diminui à medida que a mosca avança, tentando criar novas pressões que ativem as campaniform sensilla. Utilizando moscas onde estas estruturas foram geneticamente inativadas, observamos que apresentam uma tendência para avançar mais do que moscas com as estruturas intactas, e eventualmente ficam presas no túnel. Mostramos também, em túneis com altura constante ao longo do comprimento, que estas moscas não apresentam problemas em recuar, pelo que o motivo pelo qual acabam presas aparenta de facto ser a sua incapacidade em sentir o aumento da pressão sobre o corpo. Na quarta secção do projeto produzimos uma linha recombinante que nos permite utilizar um segundo sistema de expressão (LexA-LexAop) para inativar diferentes conjuntos de neurónios que foram previamente descritos como importantes para comportamentos de recuo e de viragem, enquanto ao mesmo tempo ativamos as campaniform sensilla com o sistema original (Gal4-UAS). Contudo, devido a constrições temporais, apenas fomos capazes de testar um controlo negativo para o sistema LexALexAop, que demonstrou que o recombinante tem um comportamento semelhante à linha original. Por fim, na última secção do estudo tirámos partido do sistema Split-Gal4, que transforma o clássico sistema binário Gal4-UAS em um sistema de três partes, dividindo a proteína GAL4 em duas subunidades (AD – Activation domain – e DBD – DNA binding domain). Ao cruzar cinco linhas AD com quatro linhas DBD, para um total de 20 combinações possíveis, conseguimos identificar 13 linhas que marcam as CS nas patas da mosca, e uma linha que marca CS e CO. As restantes seis linhas não apresentavam expressão, ou apresentavam um padrão de expressão aberrante. Com este trabalho procuramos providenciar mais informação sobre o funcionamento das estruturas sensoriais que são as campaniform sensilla, assim como dar novas técnicas para o seu estudo. Tendo em conta o quão conservado o controlo motor é entre organismos de diferentes complexidades, acreditamos que uma melhor compreensão do funcionamento das CS pode vir a dar novo conhecimento em organismos como os mamíferos, podendo até originar novos métodos de análise e tratamento de patologias que originem deficiências nos sistemas de proprioceção e controlo motor.

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic disease on 12 March 2020. Currently, this disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus remains one of the biggest public health problems in the world. Thus, it is essential to apply methods that enable a better understanding of the virus diffusion processes, not only at the spatial level but also at the spatiotemporal one. To that end, we tried to understand the spatial distribution of COVID-19 pathology in continental Portugal at the municipal level and to comprehend how mobility influences transmission. We used autocorrelation indices such as Getis-Ord (with Euclidian distance and commuting values), Local Moran, and a new hybrid approach. Likewise, aiming to identify the spatiotemporal patterns of the virus propagation by using Man–Kendall statistics, we found that most hotspots of infected individuals occur in the municipalities of metropolitan areas. The spatiotemporal analysis identified most of the municipalities as oscillating hotspots.

No summary/description provided

Recently there have been published several works that focus on clustering based on infectious disease data (e.g., Maugeri et al., 2020; Mahmoudi et al., 2020; Zarikas et al., 2020). These studies did not use the effective reproduction number in their clustering method, did not consider different types of infected individuals and the problem of ties in clustering was not thoroughly addressed. We develop a method to cluster regions based on infectious disease type-specific prevalence and typespecific reproduction numbers. To incorporate these two characteristics into one formula, the beginning of an epidemic is modelled by a two-type Galton-Watson branching process model. We define the model parameter as the expected number of total infections arising in a finite number of generations from one infected individual whose type is unknown. Nonparametric bootstrap is used for estimation of the model parameter. Empirical bootstrap distributions of the model parameter are then clustered using the supremum distance and variable-group hierarchical agglomerative single linkage clustering technique. By doing a simulation study, we examined how well the clusters obtained by bootstrap sampling distributions resemble the clusters obtained by using transformed multinomial distributions as a reference. Using the scaled version of the transfer distance as the performance measure, we found that the best performance was observed in scenarios where the prevalence was uniformly distributed, the sample size was 500 and two clusters were retained. Problematic ties occurred in approximately 0,5% of the simulations. The results suggest that our method performs well in some circumstances. When there is a large proportion of countries with low disease prevalence, the number of individuals sampled in each country should be increased. Besides that, if there is not an important reason to prefer to retain four clusters, then three or preferably two clusters should be retained to get better performance.

The concept of authorship has been profusely contended and addressed during the last decades. Roland Barthes declared the author dead in 1967, but since then, new approaches, ideas, and reflections have prolonged the discussion until the present day. This chapter proposes to navigate through authorship studies in order to examine authorship practices in zines. The Do-It-Yourself movement has always moved through non-conventional authorship, but the paradigm of the zine has changed in the last decades. The popularity of self-publishing also has changed how these practices are understood. Specifically, I will focus on feminist and queer zines within the Iberian Peninsula. The selected object delimitates the study, and, furthermore, it provides the epistemology and methodology to the chapter. A feminist and queer theoretical approach will be fundamental to understand the embodied authorship that has surfaced in these zines.

A mobilidade assume um papel fulcral na vida dos cidadãos e é necessário promover alternativas sustentáveis para atingir a neutralidade carbónica em 2050. As viagens realizadas diariamente, tal como as deslocações casa-trabalho, são ainda, em grande parte, realizadas através do veículo próprio, onde ocorre a combustão de combustíveis fósseis. Neste contexto, esta dissertação pretende avaliar os padrões de deslocação com a utilização da rede de bicicletas partilhadas de Lisboa, as GIRA, o efeito nas emissões dos gases com efeito de estufa (CO2eq) e no consumo de energia final. A análise cinge-se ao ano de 2018 e foi feita com os dados disponibilizados pelo LxDataLab através do protocolo existente com a Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa. Da análise aos padrões de utilização, nomeadamente nos períodos de janeiro a outubro, conclui-se que a maioria dos utilizadores prefere optar pelas bicicletas elétricas, contando as mesmas com 78,6% de utilização. Durante a semana os utilizadores deslocam-se, em média, 840 metros, as viagens têm uma duração média de 14 minutos e percorrem-se, em média, mais seis minutos e 20 metros, durante o fim de semana. No que toca aos pares de origem-destino mais utilizados são de destacar os pares: Alameda dos Oceanos- CC Vasco da Gama, CC Vasco da Gama- Alameda dos Oceanos, Avenida da RepúblicaAvenida Fontes Pereira de Melo, Rotunda dos Vice-Reis- CC Vasco da Gama e Avenida da RepúblicaCampo Grande/Museu da Cidade. Em termos de horas do dia preferenciais de utilização, durante a semana, a maioria das viagens ocorre entre as 8:00h e as 10:00h da manhã e entre as 18:00h e as 20:00h, coincidindo com os períodos de tráfego rodoviário, enquanto durante o fim de semana não se verificam muitas viagens realizadas durante a manhã e não se destaca a existência de um pico de utilização, mas sim de bastantes períodos de utilização entre as 16:00h e as 20:00h, principalmente. A variável climatérica precipitação é a que se comprovou ter maior influência no número médio de viagens, visto que os meses mais chuvosos são aqueles em que existe um menor número de viagens. Avaliaram-se dois cenários extremos: a utilização das bicicletas GIRA não alterou os padrões de utilização dos transportes rodoviários (o impacte traduz-se num aumento de consumo de energia elétrica da mobilidade e aumento de emissões de CO2eq, de acordo com a geração de energia elétrica) ou houve abandono do carro, substituindo-se o uso do mesmo pelo uso da bicicleta (o impacte traduz-se numa diminuição de consumo de energia final na mobilidade e numa diminuição de emissões de CO2eq). Os extremos revelam uma diminuição entre os 398 e os 472 GJ fóssil/ano de energia final ou um agravamento de 8 a 82 GJ elétricos/ano e uma diminuição de emissões de 30 a 36 toneladas de CO2eq/ano ou um agravamento de 0,7 a 7 toneladas CO2eq/ano.

The cosmological principle, which states that the Universe is homogeneous and isotropic, is the basis of modern cosmology. The upcoming ESA/Euclid satellite mission will test this paradigm over a wide range of scales allowing us to assess whether the non-homogeneous Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) models should be considered to accurately describe observations locally and at intermediate cosmological scales. The Euclid survey is expected to reveal/confirm more than 40 thousand new clusters in the optical and infrared bands, which represents a new era for cluster cosmology as well as for understanding the physical processes that govern the evolution of these structures. This project proposes to address the problem of modeling the galaxy cluster population in the context of LTB models, and the development of new numerical tools that may be used to provide ways of confronting model predictions with observations from galaxy surveys (e.g. Euclid) and the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) (such as Planck). The work of this thesis consists of gathering an in-depth knowledge of the machinery of the Planck Sky Model (PSM) code, identifying and modifying the key functions and procedures according to a LTB framework. More specifically, we employed the non-homogeneous isotropic Constrained Garcia-Bellido-Haugbølle (CGBH) model which is completely specified by the matter density profile of the large-scale void. Our focus is on the Delabrouille, Melin, Bartlett (DMB) method, implemented by the PSM, which we here modify to a LTB framework. This method computes the thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZ) components of the CMB, which are well-known and effective probes of structure formation. The dominant SZ effect is the thermal effect and is this component that we modified in this thesis to extend the DMB method in the PSM to LTB models. To assist our modified version of the DMB method we made use of the Bubble code which outputs the relativistic exact solutions in LTB framework. In a first stage, we changed only the PSM functions related to the background properties of the cosmos, and then in a second stage the same was undertook to include modifications in the functions concerning the mass function and the growth of perturbations. We named these two steps as "zero-order" and "first-order" modifications, respectively. The PSM then computes all-sky SZ effect maps, using the HEALPix tesselation tool, and galaxy cluster catalogues generated by our modified version of the DMB method. Having the maps, we were able to perform a fast statistical analysis obtaining the histogram of the distribution of pixels and its key (first four) moments, one of them being the mean SZ comptonization parameter ySZ that has been constrained by CMB satellite observations by the COBE-FIRAS experiment. We then explored the evolution of the power spectra, the thermal SZ maps and of the ySZ signal as the parameters of the CGBH model vary. We also compare our results to two different FLRW cosmologies: a critical and a ΛCDM "concordance" model. Finally, the code generated catalogues of galaxy clusters which allow to generate, for the first time, mock simulations of clusters. This is a crucial tool to characterise systematic effects and estimate covariance matrices for parameter inference with cluster observables in galaxy surveys. Having the catalogues and maps, the future steps would be to confront theoretical predictions against SZ (Planck) observations and optical catalogues from existing galaxy surveys (eg SDSS/MAXBSG). The study in this project is timely and innovative. This is the first time the galaxy cluster population is modelled in the LTB context with a set of new tools at the beginning of a new era for cluster cosmology with the ESA/Euclid satellite.

The spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has important links with population mobility. Social interaction is a known determinant of human-to-human transmission of infectious diseases and, in turn, population mobility as a proxy of interaction is of paramount importance to analyze COVID-19 diffusion. Using mobility data from Google’s Community Reports, this paper captures the association between changes in mobility patterns through time and the corresponding COVID-19 incidence at a multi-scalar approach applied to mainland Portugal. Results demonstrate a strong relationship between mobility data and COVID-19 incidence, suggesting that more mobility is associated with more COVID-19 cases. Methodological procedures can be summarized in a multiple linear regression with a time moving window. Model validation demonstrate good forecast accuracy, particularly when we consider the cumulative number of cases. Based on this premise, it is possible to estimate and predict future evolution of the number of COVID-19 cases using near real-time information of population mobility

Indirect resistance (IR) is a well documented polymicrobial interaction, defined as the protection of an antibiotic-sensitive strain by a neighboring resistant strain through the detoxification of the surrounding environment. It is typically observed as a consequence of antibiotic-based treatments, with a notable proclivity for β-lactam antibiotics. The large majority of IR occurrences involve cohabiting strains of diverging species. By comparison, examples of intra-species IR remain scarce. To explain this discrepancy, we propose that resource competition can counteract IR by rendering intra-species strain coexistence untenable. Likewise, inter-species IR can occur unimpeded as different strains can coexist by occuppying different metabolic niches, or even share metabolic by-products through cross-feeding. To test this hypothesis, we performed intra- and inter-species co-cultures of resistant and sensitive strains, in ampicillin-supplemented minimal media with competing and non-competing carbon sources. Also, cross-feeding was evaluated by performing co-cultures in media supplemented with carbon sources only consumable by one of the strains. While intra-species competition was invariable, interspecies competition was conditional of the carbon source. We found that sensitive strains exhibited significant growth reduction in intra-species co-culturing compared to when in mono-culture. By contrast, when paired with a resistant strain belonging to a different species, sensitive strains were able to match the growth observed in mono-culture. Co-cultures also showed potential cross-feeding interactions allowing the growth of both resistant and sensitive strains in the absence of their specific carbon source. Our results show that IR may be optimized in the absence of strain competition, which could potentially explain the lack of observable intra-species IR when compared to inter-species. Furthermore, we identified that cross-feeding mechanisms between strains might strenghten the cooperative nature of IR by permiting the growth of the resistant cells. Conversely, it may also extend the exploitation of the resistant strain to include metabolic nutrients in addition to antibiotic-disabling enzymes.