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This paper presents the fabrication of a silicon neural probe using low-cost microfabrication technologies, such as thin-films deposition, blade dicing, and photolithography. The metal stack that forms the 9 microelectrodes of 50 × 50 µm2 area, the tracks and the pads were made of Ti and Pt, while the passivation stack was SiO2 and Si3N4. The fabricated probe was characterized using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, before and after deposition of poly(3,4-ethylene-dioxythiophene) (PEDOT) on Pt microelectrodes. The electrochemical deposition of PEDOT, a conductive polymer, reduced the impedance of the Pt microelectrodes. The neural probe with PEDOT was used for in vivo electrophysiological acute recordings in an adult rat. The extracellular recordings were filtered to obtain the spike and local field potential (LFP) data, using Butterworth bandpass filters of 400–6000 Hz and 0.1–300 Hz, respectively. The results obtained with the fabricated neural probe validated its functionality, comparing with the signals acquired with a commercial neural probe, and the viability of the fabrication process, which avoids high–cost and complex etching processes., s ANI supports this work through the Brain Lighting project by FEDER funds through Portugal 2020, COMPETE 2020 with the reference POCI-01-0247-FEDER-003416. This work is also supported by FCT with CMEMS-UMinho Strategic Project, reference UIDB/04436/2020, the project Infrastructures Micro&- NanoFabs@PT, reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-022090, POR Norte, Portugal 2020 and by the project OpticalBrain, reference PTDC/CTM-REF/28406/2017, by FEDER funds through the COM PETE 2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Interna cionalizac¸a˜o (POCI). The authors acknowledge also FCT CEECIND grants, Bial Foundation Grants 207/14 and 037/18 to JO; Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013); FEDER Funds, through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE), and The National Fund, through the FCT (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038). The authors also thank to N. A. P. de Vasconcelos from ICVS-University of Minho for the implemen tation of the setup for the in vivo recordings.

This article addresses the issue of the uniform and autonomous interpretation of private law conventions, including of private international law conventions, from the perspective of their Contracting States, particularly their judiciaries, and of the international organizations. Firstly, the author analyses the use of standard uniform interpretation clauses, and the origin of such clauses, in the context of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. The following part the article addresses negative and positive obligations imposed on States and their judiciaries under international law regarding the uniform and autonomous interpretation of international treaties. It is argued that States are not only obliged to refrain from referring to concepts from national laws for the purpose of the interpretation of international law instruments, but also that they face certain positive obligations in the process of applying the conventions. Those include referring to foreign case law, international scholarship, and under certain circumstances, also to travaux preparatoires. Thirdly, the author discusses the role of international organizations—e.g. HCCH, UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, in safeguarding and facilitating the uniform and autonomous interpretation of private law conventions. It does so by describing various related tools and approaches, with examples and comments on their practical use (e.g. advisory opinions, information sharing, access to supplementary material, judicial exchanges and legislative action).

In the present work, an analysis of different welding parameters was carried out on the welding of stainless-steel thin thickness tubes by the Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) process. The influence of three main parameters, welding voltage, movement angle, and welding current in the quality of the welds, was studied through a specifically designed experimental process based on the establishment of three different levels of values for each of these parameters. Weld quality is evaluated using destructive testing (macrographic analysis). Specifically, the width and root penetration of the weld bead were measured; however, some samples have been disregarded due to welding defects outside the permissible range or caused by excessive melting of the base metals. Data are interpreted, discussed, and analyzed using the Taguchi method and ANOVA analysis. From the analysis of variance, it was possible to identify the most influential parameter, the welding voltage, with a contribution of 43.55% for the welding penetration and 75.26% for the bead width, which should be considered in the designs of automatic welding processes to improve the quality of final welds., This research was partially funded through the base funding from the following research units: UIDB/00690/2020 (CIMO).

One of the most important agricultural products in the northeast of Portugal is sweet chestnuts. In this region only, several tons of this product are produced every year. Sweet chestnuts are enclosed in a hedgehog covered with a large number of short and fine spines and containing more than one nut. This hedgehog, with long spines, does not have any commercial value, and they are considered an agricultural waste that is left in the fields to be incorporated into the soil. In this work, the authors propose to study the influence of some factors in the short-fiber non-woven chestnut hedgehog spine-reinforced polyester composite performance. For this purpose, the tensile properties of chestnut spines were determined by implementing a design of experiments (DOE) approach developed by Taguchi. Thus, the factors that will be controlled are the fiber dispersion which is defined by fiber/matrix mass ratio or weight fraction, the interfacial strength that could be improved using an alkali–silane treatment and, finally, the moisture level in the fibers. For each factor, three levels were used, an L9 orthogonal array of experiments was implemented to evaluate tensile and flexural properties. These properties were determined based on results of 54 tests, and the maximum mean values for tensile and flexural strength were 23.5 MPa and 33.6 MPa, respectively. The most influential factor for maximizing the tensile strength was the volume fraction of fiber with a contribution of 30%, and most influential factor for maximizing the flexural strength was the moisture level with a contribution of 65%. The determined mean value of tensile strength of the spines was 148 MPa. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

We study natural examples of binary channels with synchronization errors. These include the duplication channel, which independently outputs a given bit once or twice, and geometric channels that repeat a given bit according to a geometric rule, with or without the possibility of bit deletion. We apply the general framework of Cheraghchi (STOC 2018) to obtain sharp analytical upper bounds on the capacity of these channels. Previously, upper bounds were known via numerical computations involving the computation of finite approximations of the channels by a computer and then using the obtained numerical results to upper bound the actual capacity. While leading to sharp numerical results, further progress on the full understanding of the channel capacity inherently remains elusive using such methods. Our results can be regarded as a major step towards a complete understanding of the capacity curves. Quantitatively, our upper bounds sharply approach, and in some cases surpass, the bounds that were previously only known by purely numerical methods. Among our results, we notably give a completely analytical proof that, when the number of repetitions per bit is geometric (supported on $\{0,1,2,\dots\}$) with mean growing to infinity, the channel capacity remains substantially bounded away from $1$., Comment: 37 pages, 12 figures. Fixed some typos and reorganized parts of Section 5

New capacity upper bounds are presented for the discrete-time Poisson channel with no dark current and an average-power constraint. These bounds are a consequence of techniques developed for the seemingly unrelated problem of upper bounding the capacity of binary deletion and repetition channels. Previously, the best known capacity upper bound in the regime where the average-power constraint does not approach zero was due to Martinez (JOSA B, 2007), which is re-derived as a special case of the framework developed in this paper. Furthermore, this framework is carefully instantiated in order to obtain a closed-form bound that improves the result of Martinez everywhere. Finally, capacity-achieving distributions for the discrete-time Poisson channel are studied under an average-power constraint and/or a peak-power constraint and arbitrary dark current. In particular, it is shown that the support of the capacity-achieving distribution under an average-power constraint must only be countably infinite. This settles a conjecture of Shamai (IEE Proceedings I, 1990) in the affirmative. Previously, it was only known that the support must be an unbounded set.

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a polymer that has attracted the attention of researchers due to its unique properties such as transparency, biocompatibility, high flexibility, and physical and chemical stability. In addition, PDMS modification and combination with other materials can expand its range of applications. For instance, the ability to perform superhydrophobic coating allows for the manufacture of lenses. However, many of these processes are complex and expensive. One of the most promising modifications, which consists of the development of an interchangeable coating, capable of changing its optical characteristics according to some stimuli, has been underexplored. Thus, we report an experimental study of the mechanical and optical properties and wettability of pure PDMS and of two PDMS composites with the addition of 1% paraffin or beeswax using a gravity casting process. The composites’ tensile strength and hardness were lower when compared with pure PDMS. However, the contact angle was increased, reaching the highest values when using the paraffin additive. Additionally, these composites have shown interesting results for the spectrophotometry tests, i.e., the material changed its optical characteristics when heated, going from opaque at room temperature to transparent, with transmittance around 75%, at 70 °C. As a result, these materials have great potential for use in smart devices, such as sensors, due to its ability to change its transparency at high temperatures., This research was partially funded by Portuguese national funds of FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) through the base funding from the following research units: UIDB/00690/2020 (CIMO) and UIDB/04077/2020 (MEtRICs). The authors are also grateful for the funding of FCT through the projects NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-029394, NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030171, funded by COMPETE2020, NORTE2020, PORTUGAL2020, and FEDER.

In blood flow studies, image analysis plays an extremely important role to examine raw data obtained by high-speed video microscopy systems. This work shows different ways to process the images which contain various blood phenomena happening in microfluidic devices and in microcirculation. For this purpose, the current methods used for tracking red blood cells (RBCs) flowing through a glass capillary and techniques to measure the cell-free layer thickness in different kinds of microchannels will be presented. Most of the past blood flow experimental data have been collected and analyzed by means of manual methods, that can be extremely reliable, but they are highly time-consuming, user-intensive, repetitive, and the results can be subjective to user-induced errors. For this reason, it is crucial to develop image analysis methods able to obtain the data automatically. Concerning automatic image analysis methods for individual RBCs tracking and to measure the well known microfluidic phenomena cell-free layer, two developed methods are presented and discussed in order to demonstrate their feasibility to obtain accurate data acquisition in such studies. Additionally, a comparison analysis between manual and automatic methods was performed., This project has been funded by Portuguese national funds of FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) through the base funding from the following research units: UIDB/00532/2020 (Transport Phenomena Research Center—CEFT), UIDB/04077/2020 (Mechanical Engineering and Resource Sustainability Center—MEtRICs), UIDB/00690/2020 (CIMO). The authors are also grateful for the partial funding of FCT through the projects, NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-029394 (PTDC/EMD-EMD/29394/2017) and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030171 (PTDC/EMD-EMD/30171/2017) funded by COMPETE2020, NORTE2020, PORTUGAL2020 and FEDER. D. Bento acknowledges the PhD scholarship SFRH/BD/ 91192/2012 granted by FCT.

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is an elastomer with excellent optical, electrical and mechanical properties, which makes it well-suited for several engineering applications. Due to its biocompatibility, PDMS is widely used for biomedical purposes. This widespread use has also led to the massification of the soft-lithography technique, introduced for facilitating the rapid prototyping of micro and nanostructures using elastomeric materials, most notably PDMS. This technique has allowed advances in microfluidic, electronic and biomedical fields. In this review, an overview of the properties of PDMS and some of its commonly used treatments, aiming at the suitability to those fields’ needs, are presented. Applications such as microchips in the biomedical field, replication of cardiovascular flow and medical implants are also reviewed., This work was supported by projects NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-029394 and NORTE-010145-FEDER-030171, through Programa Operacional Regional do Norte-Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) and by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT), IP, project reference PTDC/EMD-EMD/29394/2017 and PTDC/EME-SIS/30171/2017.

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is one of the most promising elastomers due its remarkable proprieties such as good thermal stability, biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, flexibility, low cost, ease of use, chemically inertia, hyperplastic characteristics, and gas permeability. Thus, it can be used in areas such as microfluidic systems, biomedical devices, electronic components, membranes for filtering and pervaporation, sensors, and coatings. Although pure PDMS has low mechanical properties, such as low modulus of elasticity and strength, it can be improved by mixing the PDMS with other polymers and by adding particles or reinforcements. Fiber-reinforced PDMS has proved to be a good alternative to manufacturing flexible displays, batteries, wearable devices, tactile sensors, and energy harvesting systems. PDMS and particulates are often used in the separation of liquids from wastewater by means of porosity followed by hydrophobicity. Waxes such as beeswax and paraffin have proved to be materials capable of improving properties such as the hydrophobic, corrosion-resistant, thermal, and optical properties of PDMS. Finally, when blended with polymers such as poly (vinyl chloride-co-vinyl acetate), PDMS becomes a highly efficient alternative for membrane separation applications. However, to the best of our knowledge there are few works dedicated to the review and comparison of different PDMS composites. Hence, this review will be focused on PDMS composites, their respective applications, and properties. Generally, the combination of elastomer with fibers, particles, waxes, polymers, and others it will be discussed, with the aim of producing a review that demonstrates the wide applications of this material and how tailored characteristics can be reached for custom applications., This research was partially funded by the Portuguese national funds of FCT/MCTES (PID DAC) through the base funding from the following research units: UIDB/00690/2020 (CIMO), UIDB/04077/2020 (MEtRICs) and UIDB/00532/2020 (CEFT). The authors are also grateful for the fund ing of ANI and CIMO through the projects POCI-01-02B7-FEDER-069844 and CMFPE3- EXPL2021CIMO_01, respectively. The authors also acknowledge partial financial support from the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030171 (PTDC/EMD-EMD/30171/2017) funded by the NORTE 2020 Portugal Regional Operational Programme, under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) and by Fundaçao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT).

Context: Socioeconomic development has accelerated the urbanization process and the advance of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In this context, population growth in urban centers manifested challenges in the economic and cultural aspects of society. Issues such as mobility and sustainability come up. ICT plays an important role in this scenario, as it enables innovative services to citizens to improve their quality of life. Objective: To identify and analyze technological solutions (tools, services, applications or products) of urban public monitoring in order to characterize them, with respect to smart cities and ubiquitous devices, from the point of view of researchers and public agents in the field. context of theoretical and applied research in the literature. Method: A Systematic Literature Mapping (SLM) was performed to characterize the research in the area. Results: It was found that most studies treat as important and global trend urban public monitoring through ubiquitous devices in the context of smart cities. Conclusion: Urban public monitoring can be performed through appropriate ICT infrastructures, using devices such as sensors to capture and transmit data in real-time. This communication takes place without the use of wires and it is necessary to worry about the energy efficiency and accuracy of these ubiquitous devices. This way, the city can become more efficient and attractive to its citizens.

Flexible probes for brain activity recordings are an attractive emerging approach that reduces mechanical mismatch between probe and neuronal tissue, thus minimizing the risk of brain damage or glial scaring. Although promising, flexible probes still present some technical challenges namely: i) how to overcome probe buckling during brain insertion given its intrinsically low mechanical rigidity; ii) how to fabricate closely spaced electrode configurations for high density recordings by standard lithography techniques in the flexible substrate. Here, we present a new flexible probe based solely on standard and low-cost lithography processes, which has closely spaced 10 μm diameter gold electrode sites on a polyimide substrate with inter-site distances of only 5 μm. By using a double-layer design and fabrication approach we were able to accommodate closely spaced electrode sites at two different depths from probe surface while also providing additional stiffening, just sufficient to prevent probe buckling during brain insertion. Detailed probe characterization through metrology of structural and electrical properties and chemical composition analysis, as well as functional assessment through in vivo high-density recordings of neuronal activity in the mouse cortex, confirmed the viability of this new fabrication approach and that this probe can be used for obtaining high quality brain recordings with excellent signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

There is a continuous search for better and more complete in vitro models with mechanical properties closer to in vivo conditions. In this work a manufacturing process, based on a lost core casting technique, is herein reported to produce aneurysm biomodels to perform experimental hemodynamic studies. By using real artery images combined with a lost core casting technique, three materials were tested: paraffin, beeswax and glycerin-based soap. All in vitro biomodels were compared according to their transparency and final structure. Additionally, comparisons between experimental and numerical flow studies were also performed. The results have shown that the biomodels produced with beeswax and glycerine-based soap were the most suitable in vitro models to perform direct flow visualizations of particulate blood analogue fluids. The biomodels proposed in this works, have the potential to provide further insights into the complex blood flow phenomena happening at different kinds of pathologies and answer to important hemodynamics questions that otherwise cannot be tackled with the existing in vitro models, FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020, UIDB/04077/2020, UIDB/00690/2020 and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030171, funded by COMPETE2020, NORTE 2020, PORTUGAL 2020 and FEDER, R.A and C.F.acknowledge the support of Junta de Extremadura through Grants GR18175 and IB16119 (partially financed by FEDER) This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 798014. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 828835

Cobalt and cobalt nanoparticles have many applications, for example, in the hard metal industry and in tires. The assessment of long term effects is crucial, as these materials are persistent. For many organism groups, multigenerational (MG) exposure is a highly relevant scenario for persistent materials. In this study, the biological effect of CoCl2 (salt) and Tungsten Carbide Cobalt nanoparticles (WCCo NPs) exposure was assessed in an MG test (4 generations in spiked + 2 generations in clean soil) using the OECD/ISO standard soil test species Enchytraeus crypticus. To ensure transgenerational survival, sublethal concentrations were used to assess the MG impact. MG exposure did not increase toxicity (survival, reproduction). There was an increase in reproduction at low concentrations of Co. Materials were characterized in the exposure media and the organisms in terms of Co content. Uptake of Co-occurred from exposure to both CoCl2 and WCCo, although without toxicity for WCCo. Cobalt from CoCl2 exposure seemed to be stored, whereas for WCCo it was eliminated.

This paper presents a simple micromachining process to fabricate 2-D devices consisting of up to 20-mm-long shafts for neural applications. The manufacturing technology was mainly based on traditional blade dicing, normally used for wafers individualization into chips/devices in semiconductor and micro-electro-mechanical systems technologies. Here, it is demonstrated how a fully mechanical cutting technology is applied to the successful manufacture of challenging components with high-aspect ratio devices up to 41:1. Several other aspect ratio shafts (lengths varying between 5 and 20 mm) were produced and tested, for both the single-shaft and array devices. Mechanical characterization tests evaluated the devices robustness. Compressive strength tests for single-shaft 20-mm long shafts showed good longitudinal resistance to fracture, withstanding 28 N before breaking. Longitudinal forces play the key role while implanting the shaft inside the brain. Moreover, it was measured the load required to implant and extract 20-mm five-shaft array devices in two different mediums: 0.6% agar gel and calf cadaver brain. Maximum average insertion forces were 23 and 59 mN per shaft at 180 mm.min(-1) for agar and cadaver brain mediums, respectively. Overall, by enhancing the performance of a purely mechanical machining tool, the micro manufacture of high-aspect ratio silicon shafts for neuroscience applications was demonstrated., S. B. Goncalves is supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under grant PD/BD/105931/2014, MIT Portugal Program. This work is supported by FCT with the reference project UID/EEA/04436/2013, by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 -Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI) with the reference project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941 and project PTDC/CTM-REF/28406/2017 (02/SAICT/2017). ANI also supports this work through the Brain-Lighting project by FEDER funds through Portugal 2020, COMPETE 2020 with the reference POCI-01-0247-FEDER-003416.

Motivated by applications in topological DNA-based data storage, we introduce and study a novel setting of Non-Adaptive Group Testing (NAGT) with runlength constraints on the columns of the test matrix, in the sense that any two 1's must be separated by a run of at least d 0's. We describe and analyze a probabilistic construction of a runlength-constrained scheme in the zero-error and vanishing error settings, and show that the number of tests required by this construction is optimal up to logarithmic factors in the runlength constraint d and the number of defectives k in both cases. Surprisingly, our results show that runlength-constrained NAGT is not more demanding than unconstrained NAGT when d=O(k), and that for almost all choices of d and k it is not more demanding than NAGT with a column Hamming weight constraint only. Towards obtaining runlength-constrained Quantitative NAGT (QNAGT) schemes with good parameters, we also provide lower bounds for this setting and a nearly optimal probabilistic construction of a QNAGT scheme with a column Hamming weight constraint.

Synchronization channels, such as the well-known deletion channel, are surprisingly harder to analyze than memoryless channels, and they are a source of many fundamental problems in information theory and theoretical computer science. One of the most basic open problems regarding synchronization channels is the derivation of an exact expression for their capacity. Unfortunately, most of the classic information-theoretic techniques at our disposal fail spectacularly when applied to synchronization channels. Therefore, new approaches must be considered to tackle this problem. This survey gives an account of the great effort made over the past few decades to better understand the (broadly defined) capacity of synchronization channels, including both the main results and the novel techniques underlying them. Besides the usual notion of channel capacity, we also discuss the zero-error capacity of synchronization channels., Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures. Corrected some typos and a reference. Survey, comments are welcome

Soil invertebrates have been widely used in ecotoxicology studies for decades, although their use as in vitro models, albeit promising, has not been pursued as much. The immune cells of earthworms (coelomocytes) and the coelomic fluid can be used, and are a highly relevant in vitro system. Although it has been tested before, to cover the testing of nanomaterials (NMs), several challenges should be considered. NMs characteristics (dispersibility, agglomeration, etc.) can interfere with the common in vitro methodologies, not only during exposure, but also during the measurements. Here, we have assessed the effect of a CuO NMs case study using surface-modified particles, functionalized for safe-by-design strategies with ascorbate, citrate, polyethylenimine, and polyvinylpyrrolidinone, plus the pristine CuO NMs and copper chloride (CuCl2) for comparison. Eisenia fetida&rsquo, s coelomocytes were exposed for 24 h via the coelomic fluid. Changes in cell viability were evaluated using flow cytometry. All materials affected the cells in a dose-related manner, where CuCl2 was the most toxic followed by the citrate-coated CuO NM. There was a strong correlation between NM characteristics, e.g., the hydrodynamic size, and the EC50 (50% Effect Concentrations) values. This screening further confirms the potential for the usage of the standard earthworm model as an in vitro standard. Further detailed in vitro studies are needed using other NMs aiming toward their implementation and standardization. Additional cell endpoints can also be assessed, making it a high content tool for mechanistic understanding.

This paper presents the experimental and numerical research carried out on a reduced-scaled model to obtain and simulate its dynamic modal properties. A roving impact hammer test was carried out to identify the dynamic modal properties of the structure. The measured input and output values were acquired using a Data Acquisition System (DAQ) in order to compute the corresponding Frequency Response Function (FRF) to characterize its dynamic response. Finally, the experimental results were used to optimize the parameters of a numerical model of the mockup. In this case, the model updating procedure is based on an optimization problem in which a set of parameters representing uncertainties in the modeling process of the mass, stiffness and damping is optimized to minimize the difference between the predicted and measured dynamics of the actual structure. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This paper presents a study of the Taguchi design application to optimize surface quality in a CNC end milling operation. The present study includes feed per tooth, cutting speed and radial depth of cut as control factors. An orthogonal array of L9 was used and the ANOVA analyses were carried out to identify the significant factors affecting the surface roughness. The optimal cutting combination was determined by seeking the best surface roughness (response) and signal-to-noise ratio. The study was carried-out by machining a hardened steel block (steel 1.2738) with tungsten carbide coated tools. The results led to the minimum of arithmetic mean surface roughness of 1.662 µm, being the radial depth of cut the most influent parameter, with 64% of contribution for the workpiece surface finishing. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This study analysed the effects of two different periodization strategies on physiological parameters at various exercise intensities in competitive swimmers. Seventeen athletes of both sexes were divided to two groups, the traditional periodization (TPG, n = 7) and the reverse periodization group (RPG, n = 10). Each group followed a 10-week training period based on the two different periodization strategies. Before and after training, swimming velocity (SV), energy expenditure (EE), energy cost (EC) and percentage of aerobic (%Aer) and anaerobic (%An) energy contribution to the swimming intensities corresponding to the aerobic threshold (AerT), the anaerobic threshold (AnT) and the velocity at maximal oxygen uptake (vVO2max) were measured. Both groups increased the %An at the AerT and AnT intensity (P ≤ .05). In contrast, at the AnT intensity, EE and EC were only increased in TPG. Complementary, %Aer, %An, EE and EC at vVO2max did not alter in both groups (P > .05); no changes were observed in SV in TPG and RPG at all three intensities. These results indicate that both periodization schemes confer almost analogous adaptations in specific physiological parameters in competitive swimmers. However, given the large difference in the total training volume between the two groups, it is suggested that the implementation of the reverse periodization model is an effective and time-efficient strategy to improve performance mainly for swimming events where the AnT is an important performance indicator. Sin financiación 2.576 JCR (2017) Q2, 22/81 Sport Sciences 1.122 SJR (2017) Q1, 480/2878 Medicine (miscellaneous), 44/285 Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, 24/201 Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation; Q2, 34/127 Sports Science No data IDR 2017 UEM

The research study presented herein evaluates the corrosion behaviour of the reinforcing steel in blended concretes using two pozzolanic additives—metakaolin (MK) and silica fume (SF)—at 10% replacement of cement weight. They are exposed to CO2 and chlorides. The corrosion process was followed by monitoring of open-circuit potential (OCP), polarisation resistance (Rp) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Electrochemical measurements show that the addition of MK and SF enhances corrosion resistance exposed to chlorides, however under accelerated carbonation these concretes show higher corrosion rates. In the simultaneous exposition to carbon dioxide and chlorides, SF-concrete shows a decrease of corrosion rate.

Optrodes are neural probes for delivering light at neurons, at least with an irradiance of 1 mW/mm2. MicroLED (microlight-emitting diode) optrodes with a microlens to collimate the light can improve the irradiance without increasing the microLED power consumption, minimizing the brain overheating. This paper presents FEM (finite element method) simulations of a PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) microlens capable of collimating the light from a microLED, ensuring an average irradiance of 310 mW/mm2. Based on the simulated microlens, a microlens array was fabricated, using microfabrication processes. One of the PDMS microlens from the fabricated array was experimentally characterized, using AFM (atomic force microscopy) and SEM (scanning electron microscopy). The average surface roughness, base diameter and height of the microlens is 2.3 nm, 80 μm and 55 μm, respectively. It was also possible to determine the microlens focal length (96 μm), numerical aperture (0.42), f-number (1.2) and depth of focus (2.66 μm), using Gaussian optics. The fabrication process was validated, even using PDMS/PDMS demolding without surface treatment of the negative mold., This work is supported by FCT: OpticalBrain, PTDC/CTM-REF/28406/2017 operation code NORTE-01-0145-FEDER- 028406; OCT-RAMAN, PTDC/FIS- OTI/28296/2017 operation code NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-028296; CMEMS-UMinho strategic project UIDB/04436/2020; project of Infrastructures Micro&NanoFabs@PTNORTE- 01-0145-FEDER-022090, PORNorte, Portugal 2020 by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI). The work is also supported by RFF Forskningsfond Oslofjordfondet (Project No. 285575 and 296654), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 61950410621, 61531008 and 11702045). The support from Chongqing Research Program of Basic Research and Frontier Technology (Project No. cstc2016jcyjA0292, cstc2019jcyj-msxmX0776, cstc2017jcyjAX0191, cstc2017jcyjA1842 and cstc2018jcyjA4046), and Chongqing Education Commission – Science and Technology Research Program (Proj. nos. KJZD-K201800802, KJZD-K201900802) are also acknowledged.

In this paper, we introduce a new thin-film polarizing beam splitter (PBS) based on air as a layer with a low refractive index (L) and titanium dioxide (TiO ) as a material with a high refractive index (H). A cube-type PBS presents an active area of approximately 1.0 × 1.0 mm , and the airgap layer in conjunction with TiO thin-films provides an extremely high refractive index contrast (1.2). The PBS cube is projected onto a borosilicate glass substrate and the multiple layers obtained through TFCalc simulations, expressed in multiples of a quarter-wavelength optical thickness, are 1.6H L 1.1H 1.5L 1.1H L 1.6H. The projected structure ensures the separation of the polarizing states of light (transmission of the p-polarization and reflection of the s-polarization) from the visible to near infrared spectral range, over a bandwidth higher than 170 nm. This is the minimal working bandwidth obtained for visible range (centered at 550 nm), considering a polarization degree higher than 0.95. The projected PBS is fabricated based on conventional microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technologies, namely, thin-film deposition, annealing, and etching processes. Finally, the fabricated PBS was experimentally characterized, with the measured transmittance of the fabricated structure reaching close to the expected TFCalc simulation result. This characterization is the final validation of the structure since, theoretically, reflection is the complement of transmission in a dielectric thin-film multilayer., This work is supported by FCT: OCT-RAMAN, PTDC/FISOTI/28296/2017 operation code NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-028296; CMEMS-UMinho strategic project UIDB/04436/2020; OpticalBrain PTDC/CTM-REF/28406/2017 operation code NORTE-01-0145-FEDER028406; project of Infrastructures Micro&NanoFabs@PT NORTE01-0145-FEDER-022090, PORNorte, Portugal 2020 by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI). This publication is sponsored by ITEC-Iberiana Technical, Lda, Braga, Portugal.

Construction of error-correcting codes achieving a designated minimum distance parameter is a central problem in coding theory. In this work, we study a very simple construction of binary linear codes that correct a given number of errors $K$. Moreover, we design a simple, nearly optimal syndrome decoder for the code as well. The running time of the decoder is only logarithmic in the block length of the code, and nearly linear in the number of errors $K$. This decoder can be applied to exact for-all sparse recovery over any field, improving upon previous results with the same number of measurements. Furthermore, computation of the syndrome from a received word can be done in nearly linear time in the block length. We also demonstrate an application of these techniques in non-adaptive group testing, and construct simple explicit measurement schemes with $O(K^2 \log^2 N)$ tests and $O(K^3 \log^2 N)$ recovery time for identifying up to $K$ defectives in a population of size $N$., 18 pages. Accepted for publication in the SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics. Preliminary version presented at ISIT 2019

The importance of standardized treatment for patients is huge because it can reduce waiting times, costs in hospitals and make treatment more effective for patients. According to these patterns, the creation of a tool that can make the admission and interpretation of free text will become an important step in the medical field. For the analysis of the unstructured text, the "RapidMiner" tool was used. Following the text analysis, the word frequency technique will be used in the reports and the respective word counts, as well as the cluster analysis that allows the creation of combinations of words. For the modeling we used several Text Mining techniques focused on the main algorithms, since these are properly scientifically proven and that, normally, they are able to obtain better results. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V., This work has been supported by national funds through FCT -Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2019 and Deus ex Machina (DEM): Symbiotic technology for societal efficiency gains -NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000026.

Cerebral aneurysm is an abnormal dilatation of the blood vessel into a saccular form. They can originate in congenital defects, weakening of the arterial wall with increasing age, atherosclerotic changes, trauma and infectious emboli. The in vivo experiments are an effective way of investigating the appearance, validating new practices and techniques, but beyond ethical issues, these types of experiments are expensive and have low reproducibility. Thus, to better understand the pathophysiological and geometric aspects of an aneurysm, it is important to fabricate in vitro models capable of improving existing endovascular treatments, developing and validating theoretical and computational models. Another difficulty is in the preoperative period of the non-ruptured cerebral aneurysm, known for the success of the skilled acts because there is an anatomical structure of the aneurysm as its current position. Although there are technologies that facilitate three-dimensional video visualization in the case of aneurysms with complex geometries the operative planning is still complicated, so the development of the real three-dimensional physical model becomes advantageous. In this work, the entire process of manufacturing an aneurysm biomodel using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is disassembled by rapid prototyping technology. The manufactured biomodels are able to perform different hemodynamic studies, validate theoretical data, numerical simulations and assist in the preoperative planning. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Objective. As electrodes are required to interact with sub-millimeter neural structures, innovative microfabrication processes are required to enable fabrication of microdevices involved in such stimulation and/or recording. This requires the development of highly integrated and miniaturized systems, comprising die-integration-compatible technology and flexible microelectrodes. To elicit selective stimulation and recordings of sub-neural structures, such microfabrication process flow can beneficiate from the integration of titanium nitride (TiN) microelectrodes onto a polyimide substrate. Finally, assembling onto cuffs is required, as well as electrode characterization. Approach. Flexible TiN microelectrode array integration and miniaturization was achieved through microfabrication technology based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor processing techniques and materials. They are highly reproducible processes, granting extreme control over the feature size and shape, as well as enabling the integration of on-chip electronics. This design is intended to enhance the integration of future electronic modules, with high gains on device miniaturization. Main results. (a) Fabrication of two electrode designs, (1) 2 mm long array with 14 TiN square-shaped microelectrodes (80 × 80 µm2), and (2) an electrode array with 2 mm × 80 µm contacts. The average impedances at 1 kHz were 59 and 5.5 kΩ, respectively, for the smaller and larger contacts. Both designs were patterned on a flexible substrate and directly interconnected with a silicon chip. (b) Integration of flexible microelectrode array onto a cuff electrode designed for acute stimulation of the sub-millimeter nerves. (c) The TiN electrodes exhibited capacitive charge transfer, a water window of −0.6 V to 0.8 V, and a maximum charge injection capacity of 154 ± 16 µC cm−2. Significance. We present the concept, fabrication and characterization of composite and flexible cuff electrodes, compatible with post-processing and MEMS packaging technologies, which allow for compact integration with control, readout and RF electronics. The fabricated TiN microelectrodes were electrochemically characterized and exhibited a comparable performance to other state-of-the-art electrodes for neural stimulation and recording. Therefore, the presented TiN-on-polyimide microelectrodes, released from silicon wafers, are a promising solution for neural interfaces targeted at sub-millimeter nerves, which may benefit from future upgrades with die-electronic modules., This work was supported by the FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) under projects PTDC/EEI-TEL/5250/2014—POCI01-145- FEDER-16695, by FEDER funds through Projeto 3599—Promover a Produção Científica e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico e a Constituição de Redes Temáticas (3599- PPCDT), Grant SFRH/BD/62608/2009, and the project CMEMS reference UID/EEA/04436/2019.

Motivated by average-case trace reconstruction and coding for portable DNA-based storage systems, we initiate the study of \emph{coded trace reconstruction}, the design and analysis of high-rate efficiently encodable codes that can be efficiently decoded with high probability from few reads (also called \emph{traces}) corrupted by edit errors. Codes used in current portable DNA-based storage systems with nanopore sequencers are largely based on heuristics, and have no provable robustness or performance guarantees even for an error model with i.i.d.\ deletions and constant deletion probability. Our work is a first step towards the design of efficient codes with provable guarantees for such systems. We consider a constant rate of i.i.d.\ deletions, and perform an analysis of marker-based code-constructions. This gives rise to codes with redundancy $O(n/\log n)$ (resp.\ $O(n/\log\log n)$) that can be efficiently reconstructed from $\exp(O(\log^{2/3}n))$ (resp.\ $\exp(O(\log\log n)^{2/3})$) traces, where $n$ is the message length. Then, we give a construction of a code with $O(\log n)$ bits of redundancy that can be efficiently reconstructed from $\textrm{poly}(n)$ traces if the deletion probability is small enough. Finally, we show how to combine both approaches, giving rise to an efficient code with $O(n/\log n)$ bits of redundancy which can be reconstructed from $\textrm{poly}(\log n)$ traces for a small constant deletion probability., Comment: v2 and v3: added missing references; v4: added funding acknowledgment ; v5: added references to concurrent, independent work; v6: added funding acknowledgment. 26 pages, no figures. A short version of this paper was presented at ITW 2019

Neural probes can be equipped with light for optogenetics applications. Different approaches are used for delivering light to the tissue: an optical fiber coupled to the probe, a µLED or a waveguide integrated on the probe. Small probe dimensions, adequate optical power for photostimulation and good tissue penetration for in-vivo experiments are critical requirements. Thus, integrating a waveguide is a promising solution. This work shows the design and simulation of a SU-8 based waveguide for integration in a neural probe. The waveguide contains 3 apertures, spaced by 0.5 mm, which will allow the photostimulation of different brain regions simultaneously., ANI supports this work through the Brain-Lighting project by FEDER funds through Portugal 2020, COMPETE 2020 with the reference POCI-01-0247-FEDER-003416. S. B. Goncalves is supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, grant PD/BD/105931/2014, MIT-Portugal program., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

In optogenetic studies, the brain is exposed to high-power light sources and inadequate power density or exposure time can cause cell damage from overheating (typically temperature increasing of 2 ∘ C). In order to overcome overheating issues in optogenetics, this paper presents a neural tool capable of assessing tissue temperature over time, combined with the capability of electrical recording and optical stimulation. A silicon-based 8 mm long probe was manufactured to reach deep neural structures. The final proof-of-concept device comprises a double-sided function: on one side, an optrode with LED-based stimulation and platinum (Pt) recording points, and, on the opposite side, a Pt-based thin-film thermoresistance (RTD) for temperature assessing in the photostimulation site surroundings. Pt thin-films for tissue interface were chosen due to its biocompatibility and thermal linearity. A single-shaft probe is demonstrated for integration in a 3D probe array. A 3D probe array will reduce the distance between the thermal sensor and the heating source. Results show good recording and optical features, with average impedance magnitude of 371 k &Omega, at 1 kHz, and optical power of 1.2 mW&middot, mm &minus, 2 (at 470 nm), respectively. The manufactured RTD showed resolution of 0.2 ∘ C at 37 ∘ C (normal body temperature). Overall, the results show a device capable of meeting the requirements of a neural interface for recording/stimulating of neural activity and monitoring temperature profile of the photostimulation site surroundings, which suggests a promising tool for neuroscience research filed.

We present new capacity upper bounds for the discrete-time Poisson channel with no dark current and an average-power constraint. These bounds are a simple consequence of techniques developed by one of the authors for the seemingly unrelated problem of upper bounding the capacity of binary deletion and repetition channels. Previously, the best known capacity upper bound in the regime where the average-power constraint does not approach zero was due to Martinez (JOSA B, 2007), which we re-derive as a special case of our framework. Furthermore, we instantiate our framework to obtain a closed-form bound that noticeably improves the result of Martinez everywhere.

This work describes the influence of a high annealing temperature of about 700C on the Si(substrate)/Si3N4/TiOx/Pt/LiCoO2 multilayer system for the fabrication of all-solid-state lithium ion thin film microbatteries. Such microbatteries typically utilize lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) as cathode material with a platinum (Pt) current collector. Silicon nitride (Si3N4) is used to act as a barrier against Li diffusion into the substrate. For a good adherence between Si3N4 and Pt, commonly titanium (Ti) is used as intermediate layer. However, to achieve crystalline LiCoO2 the multilayer system has to be annealed at high temperature. This post-treatment initiates Ti diffusion into the Pt-collector and an oxidation to TiOx, leading to volume expansion and adhesion failures. To solve this adhesion problem, we introduce titanium oxide (TiOx) as an adhesion layer, avoiding the diffusion during the annealing process. LiCoO2, Pt and Si3N4 layers were deposited by magnetron sputtering and the TiOx layer by thermal oxidation of Ti layers deposited by e-beam technique. Asdeposited and annealed multilayer systems using various TiOx layer thicknesses were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results revealed that an annealing process at temperature of 700C leads to different interactions of Ti atoms between the layers, for various TiOx layer thicknesses (25–45 nm)., This work was financially supported by FEDER/ COMPETE and FCT funds with the Projects PTDC/ EEA-ELC/114713/2009, PEst-C/QUI/UI0686/2013 and UID/EEA/04436/2013, first author scholarship SFRH/BPD/95905/2013 and second author scholarship SFRH/BD/78217/2011. This work was carried out with the support of the Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility (KNMF, www.kit.edu/knmf), a Helmholtz Research Infrastructure at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, www.kit.edu).

This work reports the fabrication and characterization of lithium cobalt oxide films (LiCoO2) on flexible Kapton® substrate. LiCoO2 is commonly used as cathode of lithium microbatteries but needs an annealing of 700 °C, which is not compatible with most flexible substrates. LiCoO2 films were deposited by reactive RF sputtering followed by an annealing process at 400 °C for 1 h in vacuum and air atmospheres both in silicon and Kapton® substrates. Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction patterns and scanning electron microscopy images were used to evaluate samples crystallinity and morphology. Films fabricated in Kapton® and silicon substrates were compared., This work was financial supported by FEDER/COMPETE and FCT funds with the Project PTDC/EEA-ELC/114713/2009, strategic Project PEst-C/FIS/UI607/2013, PEst-C/QUI/UI0686/2013 and UID/EEA/04436/2013, first author scholarship SFRH/BD/78217/2011 and third author scholarship SFRH/BPD/95905/2013.

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is one of the most popular elastomers and has been used in different fields, especially in biomechanics research. Among the many interesting features of this material, its hyperelastic behavior stands out, which allows the use of PDMS in various applications, like the ones that mimic soft tissues. However, the hyperelastic behavior is not linear and needs detailed analysis, especially the characterization of shear strain. In this work, two approaches, numerical and experimental, were proposed to characterize the effect of shear strain on PDMS. The experimental method was implemented as a simple shear testing associated with 3D digital image correlation and was made using two specimens with two thicknesses of PDMS (2 and 4 mm). A finite element software was used to implement the numerical simulations, in which four different simulations using the Mooney&ndash, Rivlin, Yeoh, Gent, and polynomial hyperelastic constitutive models were performed. These approaches showed that the maximum value of shear strain occurred in the central region of the PDMS, and higher values emerged for the 2 mm PDMS thickness. Qualitatively, in the central area of the specimen, the numerical and experimental results have similar behaviors and the values of shear strain are close. For higher values of displacement and thicknesses, the numerical simulation results move further away from experimental values.

The use of the welding process on an industrial scale has become significant over the years and is currently among the main processes for joining metallic materials. Along the weld, structural changes occur in the vicinity of the joint. These thermal stresses and geometric distortions are mostly undesirable and are complex to predict with precision. Using S235JR steel as the base material, laboratory experiments were carried out using the multipass GMAW process, with the aim of investigating the influence of the welding direction on angular distortion. To measure the distortions, a methodology was applied using equipment to identify the coordinates in the operational space with metrological precision. Through metrological and statistical analyses, we found that the orientation factor significantly influenced the final distortions and that the alternated orientation sequence resulted in less distortions. This work has been supported by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Information-theoretic secret-key agreement between two parties Alice and Bob is a well-studied problem that is provably impossible in a plain model with public (authenticated) communication, but is known to be possible in a model where the parties also have access to some correlated randomness. One particular type of such correlated randomness is the so-called satellite setting, where uniform random bits (e.g., sent by a satellite) are received by the parties and the adversary Eve over inherently noisy channels. The antenna size determines the error probability, and the antenna is the adversary’s limiting resource much as computing power is the limiting resource in traditional complexity-based security. The natural assumption about the adversary is that her antenna is at most Q times larger than both Alice’s and Bob’s antenna, where, to be realistic, Q can be very large.

Brain aneurysms are pathological dilatations of cerebral arteries and are known as one of the most com- mon and serious cerebrovascular events. However, patients with cerebral aneurysms do not exhibit ev- ident symptoms until they rupture. The main objective of the present study is to perform numerical characterizations of the biomechanical behavior of aneurysms in order to analyze the blood vessel wall behavior during the formation of an aneurysm. By taking into account different geometric and physi- ological parameters, flow simulations of a well-known Newtonian fluid (glycerin) was performed using the commercial finite volume method package Ansys®-Fluent, and pressure along the channel was de- termined. These pressures were imported into the channel, in the Ansys®- Static Structural, in order to evaluate and analyze the displacement and strain fields in the channel wall, caused by the internal pressure induced by the fluid flow. All calculations were performed by using the most widely accepted hyperelastic constitutive models and it was found that any constitutive model can be applied to this kind of studies, allowing to visualize where pressure achieves its maximum value and consequently, the most favorable region where the rupture is more likely to occur. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Medical devices have a great impact but rigorous production and quality norms to meet, which pushes manufacturing technology to its limits in several fields, such as electronics, optics, communications, among others. This paper briefly explores how the medical industry is absorbing many of the technological developments from other industries, and making an effort to translate them into the healthcare requirements. An example is discussed in depth: implantable neural microsystems used for brain circuits mapping and modulation. Conventionally, light sources and electrical recording points are placed on silicon neural probes for optogenetic applications. The active sites of the probe must provide enough light power to modulate connectivity between neural networks, and simultaneously ensure reliable recordings of action potentials and local field activity. These devices aim at being a flexible and scalable technology capable of acquiring knowledge about neural mechanisms. Moreover, this paper presents a fabrication method for 2-D LED-based microsystems with high aspect-ratio shafts, capable of reaching up to 20 mm deep neural structures. In addition, PDMS glenses on LEDs top surface are presented for focusing and increasing light intensity on target structures., This work was supported in part by FCT with the reference Project UID/EEA/04436/2013, in part by the FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020-Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizaca o (POCI) with the reference Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941, and in part by the ANI through the Brain-Lighting Project by FEDER funds through Portugal 2020, COMPETE 2020 with the reference POCI-01-0247-FEDER-003416. The work of S. B. Goncalves was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under Grant PD/BD/105931/2014, MIT Portugal Program, and in pail by the Luso-American Development Foundation. The associate editor coordinating the review of this paper and approving it for publication was Prof. Octavian Postolache. (Corresponding author: S. B. Goncalves.)

Creating an augmented reality (AR) urban tourism application presents several interactivity challenges on how to convey an engaging multimedia experience on-site. This article describes a methodology for fast prototyping of multimedia mobile applications dedicated to urban tourism storytelling with special focus on AR techniques. Following the lessons learned in previous applications the systematic creation of location-based augmented reality (LBAR) applications is explored in this article. The goal is to create serious games for tourism that follow a main narrative but where the story can automatically adapt itself to the current location of the player, assimilate possible detours and allow posterior out-of-location playback. Adaptable stories can use dynamic information from map sources such as points of interest (POI), elevation or virtual buildings. The article discusses and presents solutions for media acquisition, interactive storytelling, game-design interface and multi-disciplinary coordination for mobile app development.

The aneurysm is a fragile region on the wall of a blood vessel that causes it to form a bulge. In limiting situations, this weakening can lead to vessel disruption. The main goal of this work was to understand how the deformation of the aneurysm occurs when subjected to an internal pressure similar to blood pressure. The strain state of the aneurysm will allow to define which regions are subject to higher stresses and which can give an indication of potential rupture. To carry out this study we have employed a numerical approach using a commercial software (Ansys®). With this software the pressure caused by the fluid was calculated using known parameters through the experimental measurement of the pressure drop. It was possible to define a velocity profile for the fluid and to characterize its flow through the channel. The aneurysm was subjected to a pressure previously determined for the fluid, simulating the pressure to which the channel is subjected by the bloodstream. Note that the current study have always taken into consideration that the blood vessels have a hyperelastic behaviour, defined through experimental stress/strain curves. Analysing the obtained results, it was verified that the expansion of the aneurysm is predominant in its lateral regions where the greater strain values were obtained. In these regions is where a greater risk of vessel rupture can occur. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This paper describes the design and development of an autonomous robot for the Robot@Factory league at “Festival Nacional de Robótica 2016”, held in Bragança, Portugal. This paper describes all the hardware and software components developed for a localization and performance of the robot according to the rules. The challenge consists of a table setup that recreates an industrial environment where a robot has to successfully transport boxes from an initial warehouse to the final warehouse. The destination to which the robot has to carry each box, depends on the state of the box, i.e., depending on the box LED color, even though in some cases the robot has to leave the box temporarily in the called processing machines (which are intermediate stations). The most significant innovation feature of this robot prototype consists of the possibility of carrying up to three boxes simultaneously while being able to select which box to drop. This project was developed with great success, since the team managed to reach the 3rd place in the competition., (undefined), info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The aeronautic industry is facing increasing pressure to design more efficient and sustainable aircraft to mitigate their impact on the environment. These solutions are mainly focused on: aerodynamics, structures/materials, propulsion and operations. This paper focuses on the potential of electric propulsion systems in different aircraft segments for reducing the environmental impact in the aircraft life cycle. With a twofold contribution and linking different areas, this study presents a methodological proposal for the environmental assessment of the propulsion system change in a consequential Life Cycle Assessment perspective. This methodology uses data from both a modified conceptual aircraft design adapted to hybrid-electric aircraft and a battery study. Results show not only the environmental impacts of the required battery systems for each aircraft segment in a life cycle perspective, but also in what contexts the hybrid-electric propulsion may be considered a best alternative environmentally when compared with fuel propulsion systems. For that, a sensitivity analysis illustrate the results for different electricity mix contexts and for different battery cell capacities. The main contribution for the overall life cycle impact is the process of charging a battery system, therefore the source of electricity generation is crucial for the environmental sustainability of a hybrid-electric aircraft.

This work is supported by ANI through the Brain-Lighting project by FEDER funds through Portugal 2020, COMPETE 2020 with the reference POCI-01-0247-FEDER-003416.

Minimally invasive medical devices can greatly benefit from Narrow Band Imaging (NBI) diagnostic capabilities, as different wavelengths allow penetration of distinct layers of the gastrointestinal tract mucosa, improving diagnostic accuracy and targeting different pathologies. An important performance parameter is the light intensity at a given power consumption of the medical device. A method to increase the illumination intensity in the NBI diagnostic technique was developed and applied to minimally invasive medical devices (e.g., endoscopic capsules), without increasing the size and power consumption of such instruments. Endoscopic capsules are generally equipped with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) operating in the RGB (red, green, and blue) visible light spectrum. A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) µ-lens was designed for a maximum light intensity at the target area of interest when placed on top of the LEDs. The PDMS µ-lens was fabricated using a low-cost hanging droplet method. Experiments reveal an increased illumination intensity by a factor of 1.21 for both the blue and green LEDs and 1.18 for the red LED. These promising results can increase the resolution of NBI in endoscopic capsules, which can contribute to early gastric lesions diagnosis., This work is supported by the Innovation Team for Chongqing Higher Education Construction Plan on “Smart Micro/Nano-Systems Technology and Applications” with project number CXTDX201601025. This work is supported by FCT with the project CMEMS, reference UID/EEA/04436/2019 and by the project OpticalBrain, reference PTDC/CTM-REF/28406/2017, by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI). Finally, this work is also supported by FCT with the project OCT-RAMAN, PTDC/FIS-OTI/28296/2017 with the operation code NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-028296., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Thin-film materials for solid-state rechargeable lithium batteries were fabricated by physical vapor deposition. The cathode is a lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) film, separated from the anode (metallic lithium) by an electrolyte of lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON). The LiCoO2 was deposited by RF sputtering, annealed after deposition and x-ray diffraction patterns showed higher crystallinity with 2 hours of annealing in vacuum with a temperature of 650 ºC. LiPON was deposited by reactive RF sputtering (nitrogen) and metallic lithium by thermal evaporation. Ionic conductivity of LiPON films was measured at room temperature of 26 ºC and 6.3x10E7 S.cm-1 obtained. Electrical resistivity of a 3 µm thickness lithium film was 7.6x10E8 §Ù.m, measured during deposition.

This paper analyses the influence of the coating process in the optical efficiency of replicated Moire´ Diffraction Gratings (MDGs), which are applied on real field applications for measuring both the surface displacements and strains. The Moire´ diffraction technique is an experimental full-field, non-contact and high resolution optical method, which can reveal to be very useful in extreme harsh environments. The optical efficiency of the replicated MDGs plays an important role in the quality of the experimental measurements. Two processes were used to obtain the metallic coatings: sputtering and aluminum vaporization. A good coatings quality with high optical efficiency was achieved for both processes (e.g., 17%–28%). However, for the replicated gratings a slight decrease in the optical efficiency was found (e.g., 14%–21%). The MDGs were successfully used for the experimental measurements of displacement and strains in a single lap joint. The measurements also showed that high quality of measurements allowed the identification of unbounded regions., This work was fully supported by the Portuguese Foundation for the Science and Technology (FCT) under the financial Grant FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-010236, through Project Ref. FCT/PTDC/EME-PME/102095/2008.

Minimally invasive medical devices are widely investigated, because of their advantages for in-situ medical examination in real time with highly reduced risk and patient discomfort, as compared to more traditional approaches. Optical biopsy is a prominent example of this trend and provides essential diagnostic information on tissue histopathology in the gastrointestinal tract. Micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS) technology is demonstrated in this paper to be highly suitable for fabrication of an optical biopsy microsystem where overall system dimensions and power consumption are key enabling factors. The biopsy microsystem presented is 11.2 mm in diameter and 18.6 mm in length and contains an imaging system with a dedicated image magnification optical microsystem (IMOM) and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microlenses have been fabricated using the ‘hanging droplet’ approach and integrated in the IMOM subsystem for achieving an image magnification by a factor 4 and a 30% improvement in optical irradiance from the LED illumination., This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) with the reference project UID/EEA/04436/2013, by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacão (POCI) with the reference project POCI- 01-0145-FEDER-006941. S. B. Goncalves is fully supported by the FCT under grant PD/BD/105931/2014., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The development of chiral stationary phases (CSPs) for liquid chromatography (LC) revolutionized the enantioseparation and, nowadays, different types of CSPs are commercially available. Polysaccharide-based CSPs are one of the most versatile and widely used for both analytical and preparative applications and they are able to resolve several classes of racemates. Phenylcarbamates of amylose and cellulose derivatives are the most successful; however, polysaccharide-based CSPs comprising marine-derived polysaccharides are also described revealing high chiral recognition abilities and wider range of mobile phases. A literature survey covering the report on chitin and chitosan based CSPs is presented. The chemical structure of the chiral selectors, their development and applications in chiral LC are emphasized. © 2017 by the authors. Acknowledgments: This work was partially supported through national funds provided by FCT/ MCTES—Foundation for Science and Technology from the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education (PIDDAC) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the COMPETE—Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (POFC) programme, under the Strategic Funding UID/Multi/04423/2013, the project PTDC/MAR-BIO/4694/2014 (reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016790; Project 3599—Promover a Produção Científica e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico e a Constituição de Redes Temáticas (3599-PPCDT)) in the framework of the programme PT2020 as well as by the project INNOVMAR—Innovation and Sustainability in the Management and Exploitation of Marine Resources (reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000035, within Research Line NOVELMAR), supported by North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and Chiral_Drugs_CESPU_2017.

The Taguchi method is a powerful tool to experiment design optimization and is used in this work to optimize the cutting parameters, which reduce the chatter effect on surface quality. The present study includes feed per tooth, cutting speed, radial and axial depth of cut as control factors. An orthogonal array of L16 was used with the ANOVA analyses in order to identify the significant factors associated to the surface roughness and chatter vibration in three different directions. The optimal cutting combination for the surface finishing was determined through the analysis of surface roughness. This are correlated with the vibrations levels recorded during the experimental tests. The study was carry-out by machining a hardened steel block with tungsten carbide coated tools. The results led to the minimum of arithmetic mean surface roughness of 1.05 µm which corresponded to a minimum of the mean vibration level.