Developments on code-compliant Topology Optimisation methodologies for the steel construction industry have recently been proposed. Also, it has been found that topologically optimised steel bolted connection parts – which behave non-linearly to a very significant degree of damage – do not waive physically non-linear analyses to assess an ultimate capacity that can be lower than what is predicted by the optimisation procedure linear analyses. These two circumstances brought urgency to the experimental testing of such optimised parts. The herein depicted experimental programme assessed topologically optimised and previously numerically analysed bolted parts of a well-known steel connection. The results allowed redefining the material trilinear model to be used in further numerical analysis and, very significantly, validated the numerical simulations results as well as the application of Eurocode formulae for connections component resistance. The difference between the previous numerically predicted ultimate resistance and the experimentally defined did not exceed 2.6%.

With this dissertation we aim to analyze Nietzsche writings on Descartes, focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on the book Beyond Good and Evil. Our central hypothesis is that such mentions, in a critical perspective, are configured by Nietzsche as controversy, as an argumentative strategy of philosophical opposition to Descartes as a character, forming tensions with the grounds and the edges of the early modernity. In other words, Descartes, as Nietzsche writes about him in Beyond Good and Evil, would be a character that, as a magnifying glass, works as a rhetorical element to display problems barely noticed, aside and remaining elements that, despite their marginality, would tacitly rule modernity. The result of this approach, coupled with our defense of Descartes as a character in Beyond Good and Evil, will be an exposition of some limits of the Cartesian philosophical project, relatively to those aside and remaining elements. In addition, some Nietzsche's new determinations will be underlined, such as an organic sense identified through thought, this as an element of the body; a meaning of conscious thoughts as ruled by instincts; subjectivity as an expression of the gregarious demands of the species and the self as a silent expression of individuality.

Justin Martyr, in his First Apology, disputes the way Christians were being judged before the Roman magistrates. Because he does not agree with this, he exposes his arguments in favor of Christians. In order to strengthen his argument, Justin brings us past and contemporary events and relies on his eschatological hopes. The use of temporalities in his arguments led us to ask how he understood his present time. Based on the historical time of definition proposed by Reinhart Koselleck, we set out to analyze the First Apology to understand Justin's look towards his own time. We look after, in this way, to try to understand what factors underlie his tension, which would explain its vision of the world. In the search for a better understanding of these factors, we propose three steps: To broaden the knowledge about our source through the study of its form and content to analyze the most present intertextuality in his work (his conception of prophet and prophecy from Judeo-Christian literature) and, finally, the way he dealt with past, present, and future temporalities.

O comportamento real da argamassa em juntas de assentamento, bem como a determinação das suas propriedades mecânicas é de difícil reprodução em laboratório, em função dos efeitos de confinamento exercidos pelo bloco e das modificações resultantes da troca hídrica entre blocos e argamassa, o que acaba resultando em conhecimento pouco difundido do assunto. Em consequência disso esse trabalho busca aprofundar o conhecimento referente ao comportamento mecânico da argamassa de assentamento comprimida axialmente. Para isso foram estudados dois diferentes traços de argamassa (1:0,5:4 e 1:1:6), medidos em volume de cimento, cal e areia, e duas diferentes alturas de corpos de prova (100 mm e 33 mm), com os quais foram realizados ensaios de compressão em corpos de provas cilíndricos instrumentados com strain gauges, de forma a avaliar a influência da resistência e do grau de confinamento da argamassa em relação ao comportamento tensão-deformação, módulo de elasticidade e coeficiente de Poisson. Com os resultados encontrados verificou-se que as argamassas de maior resistência apresentaram deformações na ruptura e módulo de elasticidade superiores e que com o aumento do confinamento ocorre uma redução do módulo de elasticidade. O coeficiente de Poisson apresentou diferentes padrões de comportamento de acordo com as condições de confinamento, no caso das argamassas menos confinadas ele se manteve constante com leves variações, já nas mais confinadas as variações foram mais acentuadas a partir do nível crítico de tensão atingido.

O stress e a ansiedade são uma constante no dia-a-dia da população em geral. Na vida académica isto não é diferente pois os alunos são expostos a diversas situações causadores desse stress e dessa ansiedade, como por exemplo a pressão que sentem por parte dos professores ou até dos pais para alcançarem bons resultados, as constantes avaliações a que são sujeitos ao longo de todo o percurso académico, o receio que os próprios sentem em falhar, as expectativas sentidas por estes em relação à sua vida académica, entre outras. Tudo isto poderá influenciar tanto o desempenho académico dos alunos como o sucesso escolar dos mesmos. . Existem factores que poderão mostrar diferenças nos níveis de ansiedade como por exemplo o facto de o aluno já ter reprovado de ano anteriormente, o género, o autoconceito e o nível de escolaridade em que se encontram. Posto isto, este trabalho apresenta como objectivo conhecer e compreender a ansiedade face aos testes nos estudantes de duas turmas que frequentam o 8º, 9º, 10º e 11º anos lectivos do agrupamento de escolas da Brandoa, Amadora. Este trabalho, pretende também compreender o comportamento da variável ansiedade face aos testes em relação ao autoconceito, ao género, ao ciclo escolar e ao proveito escolar dos alunos. A recolha dos dados foi de forma quantitativa através de dois questionários, o QAT – “Questionário da Ansiedade Face aos Testes” de Rosário e Soares (2004) e a “Escala de Autoconceito e Auto-Estima” de Peixoto e Almeida (1999). Os resultados não foram de encontro à literatura, não tendo sido verificadas diferenças significativas na ansiedade sentida face aos testes em relação ao género, autoconceito, ciclo escolar e proveito académico. Assim, os resultados não foram de encontro às hipóteses propostas neste estudo. No entanto, isto poderá ser explicado, como mais à frente se poderá consultar.

The characterization of the tensile behavior of strain hardening cementitious composites (SHCC) is of significant importance to the material design. In a previous work the tensile stress-crack opening response of different types of SHCC was characterized using notched specimens tested in direct tension, where a single crack was obtained and mechanically characterized by performing Single Crack Tension Test (SCTT). In this study the tensile behavior of SHCC materials is characterized under eccentric tensile load using the Compact Tension Test (CTT). The long edge notch placed in the rectangular plate specimens and the eccentrically applied tensile load create the local conditions necessary to the initiation of a single crack at the tip of the notch. Further propagation and opening of the crack in Mode I allow the assessment of the tensile load-displacement relationship. The experimental results are discussed and compared to the numerically derived responses. The tensile load-displacement responses observed in the CTTs were simulated using the cohesive crack model. The tensile stress-crack opening behaviors previously obtained with the SCTT tests were utilized to derive the traction-separation laws assigned to the interface elements. The results obtained with the CTT are analyzed and discussed, with special emphasis on the possibility of using the SCTT responses to predict the structural behavior of SHCC.

This review article is based on re-reading the Joas vs. Weber discussion about the macro-concept of “disenchantment”. For Joas, the Weberian thesis brings together, in a single explanatory model, different social processes that must be differentiated. Joas’s proposal highlights the need to build research models sensitive to the interaction and the play of different logics of action between tension and transaction. The collection of some of the most recent tendencies shows how research on religion and modernity has renewed its interest in “visible religion”, granting a fundamental place to study the different modalities of religious agency in the recomposition of the public domain. Reading these results allows the reconstruction of an epistemological model centered on the logic of action, considering that religion can no longer be studied only on the terrain of its institutional reproduction. Instead, the plurality of religious agency requires observation at different scales: a multiscopic and multisite perspective.

The purpose of this dissertation is to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between two non-antagonistic characters in Animation, and the impact it can have in the unfolding of the narrative and the transformation of the two characters. Its purpose is also to invite scientists, artists, and the reader, to further consider this subject as part of the creative process of storytelling, similar to the case of an individual character. This dissertation will explore historical-technological and scientific studies, as well as films and television series, which will serve as examples of conflict between two non-antagonistic characters. This research will allow the author to gather signs of what this particular kind of conflict and group of characters adds to movies and series—namely animated ones, in order to complement the focus of the course taken by the author. At the end of this dissertation, a case study is made with the final project produced during this course, A Helping Hoot. This short film, which contains a narrative driven significantly by the conflict caused by the interactions between the two main characters, serves as a platform to apply the gathered information whenever relevant to the theme. The intended result is to help raise more awareness of the particular possibilities for storytelling brought by narratives driven by the conflict between two non-antagonistic characters.

This dissertation aims to explore how luxury brands can successfully target the Japanese and Chinese markets. The focus of the present dissertation is to understand how to approach these Asian markets, considering the several challenges that companies face when targeting these particular consumers. First, luxury, known for its rarity, low accessibility, and exclusiveness, faces a tension between the increasing democratization of luxury and the management of the brand’s core image. Second, because of cultural differences, Asian consumers desire different things, interpret communication differently and behave in distinct ways. To answer this research question, a comparative case study on six luxury brands was conducted. The findings suggest that to be successful in Japanese and Chinese markets, culture should be at the center of the brand strategy, as Japanese and Chinese consumers are different and value very distinct approaches. Further, the majority of the brands adapt in five different dimensions – communication, promotion, product, e-commerce, price -, in dissimilar proportions, and with different procedures.