Artigos de Revista

The water availability estimation in large regions is a relevant procedure to define broad water resourcesmanagement policies but may prove difficult due to the lack of data and uncertainty to related regionalhydrological and hydrogeological characterization. BALSEQ, a daily sequential water budget model, wasapplied in a set of twenty-two watersheds in southern Portugal, aiming to understand the possible relationsbetween the model parameters and watershed characteristics that may allow assembling calibration functionsfor non-monitored watersheds. A sensitivity analysis was conducted by comparing BALSEQ results withmeasured surface flow, focusing specifically on the fraction of the potential maximum retention (

Neste quarto artigo (de oito) da série editorial intitulada

Stability analyses of geotechnical structures in rock are traditionally performed using deterministic methods. In Europe, Eurocode7, introduced in the beginning of the 21st century, adopts limit state design and semi-probabilistic methods, using partial factors for the design of geotechnical structures. Meanwhile, reliability-based design, using probabilistic methods, is becoming more common in practical cases. The paper considers an intentionally simple case study?the analysis of a slope in a rock mass with one discontinuity, considered in a discrete way, forming a rock block to be stabilised by anchors?to compare the results obtained with the different methods. The objective is to calculate the force applied by the anchors so that the ultimate limit states of sliding of the rock block is verified. Deterministic-based design optimization considering both the traditional global safety factor approach and the partial factor approach following the Eurocode 7 are first applied. A reliability-based design optimization procedure?which takes geometrical and mechanical properties of the discontinuities as random variables?is then used, and the results are compared to the former ones. A discussion is presented concerning the consistency of the obtained results.

No artigo desenvolve-se uma reflexão, de certa forma, introdutória sobre o interesse da exploração e do subsequente aprofundamento de uma razoável variedade de propostas organizativas para as zonas e subzonas da habitação, numa perspetiva que encara criticamente uma, ainda preponderante, preocupação essencialmente funcional, e que visa a melhor adequação a necessidades e desejos habitacionais específicos num quadro de expressiva qualidade arquitectónica.

TiO2-containing photocatalysts, which combine TiO2 with carbon-based materials, are promising materials for wastewater treatment due to synergistic photodegradation and adsorption phenomena. In this work, TiO2/AC composites were produced by the in situ immobilization of TiO2 nanoparticles over activated carbon (AC) derived from spent coffee grains, using different TiO2/AC proportions. The TiO2/AC composites were tested as adsorbents (dark) and as photocatalysts in a combined adsorption+photocatalytic process (solar irradiation) for methylene blue (MB) removal from ultrapure water, and from a secondary effluent (SecEf) of an urban wastewater treatment plant. All the materials were characterized by XRD (X-ray powder diffraction), N2 adsorption

The subgrade of old railway tracks often exhibits poor geotechnical behaviour, particularly regarding the soils on which the ballast layer rests. Such poor behaviour implies significant maintenance costs and possession times. The reinforcement of subgrade soils by injection of binders may mitigate these malfunctions, but previous applications showed some limitations, and the quality of the results depends on many factors. Herein, the authors present some studies on the development of a subgrade reinforcement method, which minimises the impact on train operation, by using short soil

The introduction of new species in forest management must be undertaken with a degree ofcare, to help prevent the spread of invasive species. However, new species with higher profitability are needed to increase forest products value and the resilience of rural populations. Paulownia tomentosa has an extremely fast growth. The objective and novelty of this work was to study the potential use of young Paulownia trees grown in Portugal by using heat treatment to improve its properties, thereby allowing higher value applications of the wood. The average chemical composition of untreated and heat-treated wood was determined. The extractive content was determined by successive Soxhlet extraction with dichloromethane (DCM), ethanol and water as solvents. The composition of lipophilic extracts was performed by injection in GC-MS with mass detection. Insoluble and soluble lignin, holocellulose and

Although the chronology of the tiling of Bacalhôa with majolica azulejos was always known to be around 1565, given the date inscribed in the panel representing the biblical episode of Susanna and the Elders, their provenance as well as the authorship of the figurative panels, remained clouded and open to personal opinion. A previous analytical study of the main panels and linings with patterned tiles of Bacalhôa concluded that some of them could not be ascribed to the workshops of Lisbon at that chronology, differing in terms of glaze and biscuit compositions and micro-morphology, suggesting that they may have been imported. The present paper presents a detailed study of those presumably imported panels and patterned tiles, firstly setting a reference based on the micro-morphological and analytical characteristics of the two panels depicting coats of arms, and then comparing the remaining items with them to verify whether they may be clustered together. Finally, we discuss their possible provenance.

This essay provides an overview of the architecture of the Bacalhôa palace and estate, and of some of its ceramic panels and linings. The estate comprises a varied range of tiles but the research project encompassing the present study focuses exclusively on the 16th century majolica type. Consequently, this article will make only sporadic or indirect references to Hispano-Moresque tiles. The project also included iconographic interpretations of certain significant azulejo panels and patterned tiles but these will be included in future papers specifically dedicated to those particular parts of the majolica tile linings, rather than as an integral aspect of the present study. Accordingly, this essay only includes iconographic details of groups of tiles that will not be examined in subsequent articles. This applies to the tiles of the Lake Wall and in the Vineyard Chapels.