Sustainability has been one of society’s main objectives to ensure the satisfaction of
present generations without compromising the satisfaction of future generations.
Construction, being one of the most important industries, consumes an innumerous amount
of materials and resources, and most of these, are non-renewable resources. This
mismanagement of resources in construction has made it necessary to change the ways of
traditional construction leading to sustainable construction.
Water is one of the most important and essential resources to human life and all life
on earth. The impact of buildings throughout their life cycle (planning, construction, operation
and deconstruction), water consumption manly during the operation phase, and currently has
very high consumption patterns.
Presently there are already several certification systems for sustainable construction,
systems like BREEAM and LEED. These are usually an international reference in the
sustainable construction. In Portugal the LIDERA system is unique and includes a category
for the use of water in dwellings.
This study contains a set of measures to reduce water consumption leading to a more
efficient use of this resource in residential buildings. The measures presented are based on
user’s sensitivity and awareness, systems of rainwater and grey water recycling and use of
efficient devices and leakage reduction. The measures are analyzed and compared in terms
of consumption patterns for the device and its effective reduction in water consumption.
There is also a proposal of equipment and systems to be installed in new buildings and
existing buildings in order to reduce water consumption.

The construction industry is currently undergoing a transition phase through which it is trying to
correct the excess of resource consumption occurred during the last two centuries. This industry is
responsible for the consumption of most non-renewable resources, a high consumption of energy and
for and excessive production of waste in all phases of its production process. Thus, the existence of a
building process based on the principle of Sustainable Development capable of reducing the negative
impacts resulting from the current activity is of enormous importance to the society.
One of the present solutions, which is wide spread nearly all over the world, is the process of
rehabilitation of existing buildings with change in use. This process alone can reduce the creation of
demolition waste and resource consumption associated with new construction. When complemented
with a set of sustainable actions, it ensures the reduction of energy consumption and resources
throughout the utilization phase and improves the health of the built environment.
Thus, in order to contribute to the improvement of building´s characteristics and consequently to
society´s quality of life, a building construction process of change in use, based on the principle of
sustainable construction, is presented. This process consists of a set of actions that encompass all
phases of the building’s lifecycle.

Sleep staging is a crucial step before the scoring the sleep apnoea, in subjects that are tested for this condition. These patients undergo a whole night polysomnography recording that includes EEG, EOG, ECG, EMG and respiratory signals. Sleep staging refers to the quantification of its depth. Despite the commercial sleep software being able to stage the sleep, there is a general lack of confidence amongst health practitioners of these machine results. Generally the sleep scoring is done over the visual inspection of the overnight patient EEG recording, which takes the attention of an expert medical practitioner over a couple of hours. This contributes to a waiting list of two years for patients of the Portuguese Health Service. In this work we have used a spectral comparison method called Itakura distance to be able to make a distinction between sleepy and awake epochs in a night EEG recording, therefore automatically doing the staging. We have used the data from 20 patients of Hospital Pulido Valente, which had been previously visually expert scored. Our technique results were promising, in a way that Itakura distance can, by itself, distinguish with a good degree of certainty the N2, N3 and awake states. Pre-processing stages for artefact reduction and baseline removal using Wavelets were applied.

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) of poly(ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) were synthesized for the first time in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2), using Boc-l-tryptophan as template. Supercritical fluid technology provides a clean and one-step synthetic route for the preparation of affinity polymeric materials with sensing capability for specific molecules. The polymeric materials were tested as stationary \{HPLC\} phases for the enantiomeric separation of l- and d-tryptophan. \{HPLC\} results prove that the synthesized \{MIPs\} are able to recognize the template molecule towards its enantiomer which opens up potential applications in chromatographic chiral separation.

Sleep staging is a crucial step before the scoring the sleep apnoea, in subjects that are tested for this condition. These patients undergo a whole night polysomnography recording that includes EEG, EOG, ECG, EMG and respiratory signals. Sleep staging refers to the quantification of its depth. Despite the commercial sleep software being able to stage the sleep, there is a general lack of confidence amongst health practitioners of these machine results. Generally the sleep scoring is done over the visual inspection of the overnight patient EEG recording, which takes the attention of an expert medical practitioner over a couple of hours. This contributes to a waiting list of two years for patients of the Portuguese Health Service. In this work we have used a spectral comparison method called Itakura distance to be able to make a distinction between sleepy and awake epochs in a night EEG recording, therefore automatically doing the staging. We have used the data from 20 patients of Hospital Pulido Valente, which had been previously visually expert scored. Our technique results were promising, in a way that Itakura distance can, by itself, distinguish with a good degree of certainty the N2, N3 and awake states. Pre-processing stages for artefact reduction and baseline removal using Wavelets were applied.

Adenylate kinase (AK; ATP:AMP phosphotransferase; EC 2.7.4.3) is involved in the reversible transfer of the terminal phosphate group from ATP to AMP. AKs contribute to the maintenance of a constant level of cellular adenine nucleotides, which is necessary for the energetic metabolism of the cell. Three metal ions, cobalt, zinc and iron(II), have been reported to be present in AKs from some Gram-negative bacteria. Native zinc-containing AK from Desulfovibrio gigas was purified to homogeneity and crystallized. The crystals diffracted to beyond 1.8 A resolution. Furthermore, cobalt- and iron-containing crystal forms of recombinant AK were also obtained and diffracted to 2.0 and 3.0 A resolution, respectively. Zn(2+)-AK and Fe(2+)-AK crystallized in space group I222 with similar unit-cell parameters, whereas Co(2+)-AK crystallized in space group C2; a monomer was present in the asymmetric unit for both the Zn(2+)-AK and Fe(2+)-AK forms and a dimer was present for the Co(2+)-AK form. The structures of the three metal-bound forms of AK will provide new insights into the role and selectivity of the metal in these enzymes.

We report in this work on the robustness of ultrasonic energy as a tool to speed the isotopic labeling of proteins using the (18)O-decoupling procedure. The first part of the decoupling procedure, comprising protein denaturation, reduction, alkylation and digestion, is done in 8 min under the effects of an ultrasonic field whilst the second part, the isotopic labeling, was assayed with and without the use of ultrasonic energy. Our results clearly demonstrate that the (18)O-isotopic labeling in a decoupling procedure cannot be accelerated using an ultrasonic field.

We report in this work on the robustness of ultrasonic energy as a tool to speed the isotopic labeling of proteins using the (18)O-decoupling procedure. The first part of the decoupling procedure, comprising protein denaturation, reduction, alkylation and digestion, is done in 8 min under the effects of an ultrasonic field whilst the second part, the isotopic labeling, was assayed with and without the use of ultrasonic energy. Our results clearly demonstrate that the (18)O-isotopic labeling in a decoupling procedure cannot be accelerated using an ultrasonic field.

Nitric Oxide Reductase (NOR) is an integral membrane protein performing the reduction of NO to N(2)O. NOR is composed of two subunits: the large one (NorB) is a bundle of 12 transmembrane helices (TMH). It contains a b type heme and a binuclear iron site, which is believed to be the catalytic site, comprising a heme b and a non-hemic iron. The small subunit (NorC) harbors a cytochrome c and is attached to the membrane through a unique TMH. With the aim to perform structural and functional studies of NOR, we have immunized dromedaries with NOR and produced several antibody fragments of the heavy chain (VHHs, also known as nanobodies). These fragments have been used to develop a faster NOR purification procedure, to proceed to crystallization assays and to analyze the electron transfer of electron donors. BIAcore experiments have revealed that up to three VHHs can bind concomitantly to NOR with affinities in the nanomolar range. This is the first example of the use of VHHs with an integral membrane protein. Our results indicate that VHHs are able to recognize with high affinity distinct epitopes on this class of proteins, and can be used as versatile and valuable tool for purification, functional study and crystallization of integral membrane proteins.

The orange-coloured protein (ORP) from Desulfovibrio gigas is a 12 kDa protein that contains a novel mixed-metal sulfide cluster of the type [S(2)MoS(2)CuS(2)MoS(2)]. Diffracting crystals of the apo form of ORP have been obtained. Data have been collected for the apo form of ORP to 2.25 A resolution in-house and to beyond 2.0 A resolution at ESRF, Grenoble. The crystals belonged to a trigonal space group, with unit-cell parameters a = 43, b = 43, c = 106 A.

Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that brings together diverse fields of research and development such as engineering, biology, physics and chemistry. Formal definitions of nanotechnology refer to man-made devices, components and structures in the 1-100 nm range in at least one dimension. Advances in nanoscience are having a significant impact on many scientific fields, boosting the development of a variety of important technologies. Nanotechnology offers an unprecedented opportunity to interact with cancer cells in real time at the molecular and cellular scale. Because of their small size, nanoscale devices can readily interact with biomolecules on both the surface of cells and inside of cells. The concerted development of nanoscale devices, structures and components have provided essential breakthroughs in monitoring and fighting cancer at the earliest stages of the cancer process. Nanotechnology offers a wealth of tools that may provide researchers with new and innovative ways to diagnose and treat cancer - new imaging agents; systems for real-time assessments of therapeutic and surgical efficacy; multifunctional, targeted devices capable of bypassing biological barriers to deliver multiple therapeutic agents directly to cancer cells and tissues that play a critical role in cancer growth and metastasis; agents that can monitor predictive molecular changes allowing for preventive action against precancerous cells becoming malignant; minimizing costs for multiplex analysis. Nanotechnology, if properly integrated with conventional cancer research, may provide extraordinary prospects towards better diagnosis and effective therapy.

Nitric Oxide Reductase (NOR) is an integral membrane protein performing the reduction of NO to N(2)O. NOR is composed of two subunits: the large one (NorB) is a bundle of 12 transmembrane helices (TMH). It contains a b type heme and a binuclear iron site, which is believed to be the catalytic site, comprising a heme b and a non-hemic iron. The small subunit (NorC) harbors a cytochrome c and is attached to the membrane through a unique TMH. With the aim to perform structural and functional studies of NOR, we have immunized dromedaries with NOR and produced several antibody fragments of the heavy chain (VHHs, also known as nanobodies (TM)). These fragments have been used to develop a faster NOR purification procedure, to proceed to crystallization assays and to analyze the electron transfer of electron donors. BIAcore experiments have revealed that up to three VHHs can bind concomitantly to NOR with affinities in the nanomolar range. This is the first example of the use of VHHs with an integral membrane protein. Our results indicate that VHHs are able to recognize with high affinity distinct epitopes on this class of proteins, and can be used as versatile and valuable tool for purification, functional study and crystallization of integral membrane proteins.

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Some results presented in the paper ?Modeling fractional stochastic systems as non-random fractional dynamics driven Brownian motions? ?I. Podlubny, Fractional Differential Equations, Academic Press, San Diego, 1999? are discussed in this paper. The slightly modified Grünwald-Letnikov derivative proposed there is used to deduce some interesting results that are in contradiction with those proposed in the referred paper. Keywords: Fractional calculus; Grünwald-Letnikov derivative; Fractional Brownian motion

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