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Poster presented at the 5th Annual Meeting (3-4 of Novembre, 2016; placed in Axis Vermar Conference & Beach Hotal, Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal)

By using agent technology, a versatile and modular monitoring system can be built. In this paper, such a multiagent-based monitoring system will be described. The system can be trained to detect several conditions in combination and react accordingly. Because of the distributed nature of the system, the concept can be used in many situations, especially when combinations of different sensor inputs are used. Another advantage of the approach presented in this paper is the fact that every monitoring system can be adapted to specific situations. As a case-study, a health monitoring system will be presented.

Environmental non-profit organisations (ENPOs) become more and more involved in decision making. This study assesses how political institutionalisation might challenge the public legitimacy of ENPOs by affecting their position in public discourses. Specifically, we hypothesize that institutionalisation might influence discursive relations to other actors and the frames employed by an organization. A quantitative content analysis of the media coverage on the case of the Dutch energy agreement was conducted that allowed a comparison of institutionalised movement organizations to non-institutionalised ones and to other actors of the same institutional level. The findings revealed that institutionalisation affected patterns of actor references while, surprisingly, no substantial differences in the use of frames could be found. Overall, we find indications that institutionalisation primarily represents an opportunity as opposed to a threat for the public legitimacy of movement organizations.

Sensor data is extremely important to monitor machines at the shop-floor level and its environmental surrounding conditions for condition-based monitoring, machine diagnosis and process adaptation to new requirements. Based on the described scope, self-diagnostics and self-organizing capabilities are core functionalities of any Industrial Wireless Sensor Network (IWSN). In the present work, a simulated case study was developed with the main intent of validating techniques implemented for sensor data diagnosis of error detection and equipment failure. The scenarios explored try to mimic some common situations of a manufacturing environment when dealing with WSNs, where a piece of sensor equipment suddenly stops working or an unpredictable change in the environment leads to faulty data readings. This paper introduces Castalia and describes how it was used to simulate a direct application of an Optical Metrology System on an industrial Resistance Spot Welding process, which is composed of a camera and several luminosity sensors. More specifically, a sensor data validation module was proposed, implemented and used to extend Castalia functionalities.

to evaluate the effects of a 12--weeks combined aerobic--resistance exercise therapy on fatigue and isokinetic muscle strength, glycemic control and health--related quality of life (HRQoL) in moderately affected type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients.a randomized controlled trial design was employed. Forty--three T2DM patients were assigned to an exercise group (n = 22), performing 3 weekly sessions of 60 minutes of combined aerobic--resistance exercise for 12--weeks; or a no exercise control group (n = 21). Both groups were evaluated at a baseline and after 12--weeks of exercise therapy for: 1) muscle strength and fatigue by isokinetic dynamometry; 2) plasma glycated hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C); and 3) HRQoL utilizing the SF--36 questionnaire.the exercise therapy led to improvements in muscle fatigue in knee extensors (--55%) and increased muscle strength in knee flexors and extensors (+15 to +30%), while HbA1C decreased (--18%). In addition, the exercising patients showed sizeable improvements in HRQoL: physical function (+53%), vitality (+21%) and mental health (+40%).12--weeks of combined aerobic--resistance exercise was highly effective to improve muscle strength and fatigue, glycemic control and several aspects of HRQoL in T2DM patients. These data encourage the use of aerobic and resistance exercise in the good clinical care of T2DM.

In a production environment where different products are being made in parallel, the path planning for every product can be different. The model proposed in this paper is based on a production environment where the production machines are placed in a grid. A software entity, called product agent, is responsible for the manufacturing of a single product. The product agent will plan a path along the production machines needed for that specific product. In this paper, an optimization is proposed that will reduce the amount of transport between the production machines. The effect of two factors that influence the possibilities for reductions is shown in a simulation, using the proposed optimization scheme. These two factors are the redundancy of production steps in the grid and the number of steps where the order of execution is irrelevant.

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Efectuou-se um estudo prospectivo com base nos dados de um inquérito realizado a 350 puérperas internadas no Hospital de Reynaldo dos Santos entre Agosto e Dezembro de 1993. O objectivo foi caracterizar esta população do ponto de vista clínico e social bem como determinar a incidência de patologia no recém-nascido associada à gravidez não vigiada. Conclui-se ser elevada a incidência de gravidez não vigiada (15.7%), predominando esta nas mulheres com menos de 18 anos, de raça negra ou de etnia cigana, de classes sociais mais desfavorecidas e naquelas que já tinham tido duas ou mais gestações. No grupo das grávidas vigiadas, verificou-se ainda assim uma elevada incidência de mulheres que não tinham feito o rastreio de doenças infecciosas potencialmente lesivas para a criança, nomeadamente rubéola e toxoplasmose (8%), sífilis (17%), hepatite B (22%) e infecção pelo HIVI e HIV2 (31%). No grupo de mães que não vigiaram a gravidez houve aumento da incidência de recém-nascidos leves para a idade gestacional (7.3%) e um aumento da demora média do internamento de 0,3 dias., Portuguese Journal of Pediatrics, Vol 28 No 2 (1997)

Os autores fazem uma revisão teórica sobre bébé colódio e ictioses congénitas. O bébé colódio é uni estado cutâneo patológico, com uma incidência de 1:10 000 RN. Sendo a pele o órgão atingido, é feita uma descrição sumária da sua constituição, funções e importância como orgão de revestimento, protecção e ligação com o meio exterior. É abordada sumariamente a embriologia da pele, para uma melhor compreensão desta patologia. O bébé colódio é um fenótipo que pode corresponder a vários genótipos. Descrevem-se as suas particularidades e possíveis complicações, que é necessário prever ou tratar. É feita a enumeração e caracterização dos vários tipos de evolução, com particular realce para as ictioses relacionadas com o sindroma: Ictiose Lamelar e Eritrodermia Ictiosiforme Congénita não Bolhosa, Ictiose Recessiva Ligada ao Cromossoma X, Ictiose Vulgar, Síndroma de Sjogren-Larsson, Síndroma de Chanarin-Dorfman. Aborda-se ainda, o difícil e ainda não completamente resolvido problema do diagnóstico pré-natal e da identificação de portadores. Foi feita uma revisão de todas as crianças que nasceram com fenótipo de bébé colódio na Matern idade Dr. Alfredo da Costa,durante o período de 1992 a 1996. Encontraram-se 4 casos (3 de Ictiose Lamelar e 1 de Ictiose Vulgar). É feita a caracterização de cada um deles quanto ao peso ao nascer, sexo, gravidez e parto, antecedentes familiares, dias de internamento e diagnóstico histológico, Portuguese Journal of Pediatrics, Vol 31 No 2 (2000)

This article examines the reform of the Portuguese police system during the 1860s. In this period, the nature of police institutions, functions and practices became a main political issue with the reform movement culminating in the founding of Polícia Civil in urban settlements in 1867 while failing in a project to establish a national gendarmerie. However, this still represented more than just institutional reform ; at stake was a re-examination of police functions, with a new notion of ‘public safety’ and the rationales behind policing practices, with ‘prevention’ and ‘emergency’ as the new guiding concepts. The article concludes that in Portugal, the political culture and the circulation police models between national jurisdictions provide better explanations for police reform than actual concerns about disorder and crime.

Sugarcane (Saccharumspp.) is one of the most important crops cultivated in the tropics and subtropics and plays a signifi cant economic and environmental role in Brazil. Twenty- four new clones were evaluated in different locations as potential models for recommendation as new varieties. The mixed model methodology, using the harmonic mean of the relative per- formance of genetic values (MHPRVG), facilitated the analysis of genotypic stability and adapt- ability, culminating in the recommendation of clones for each location. MHPRVG ranked clones RB92579, RB867515, SP81-3250, RB947520 and RB931530 as the best fi ve, and, addition- ally, clones with greater genotypic potential were identifi ed for each test in the six localities. Made available in DSpace on 2014-04-11T22:09:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2014APIBreedingNewSugarcane.pdf: 75985 bytes, checksum: 0e8992102f2917c6e1b391fe52326aa4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-04-11

In this work the binding of VIVO2+ and VIVO-complexes to serum albumins {human serum albumin (HSA), bovine serum albumin (BSA) and porcine serum albumin (PSA)} are studied using circular dichroism (CD), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and visible absorption spectroscopy. The results confirm previous findings that VIVO2+ occupies at least two types of binding sites on albumin: ‘the strong vanadium binding site’ (designated by VBS1) and ‘the weak vanadium binding sites’ (designated by VBS2). VBS1 binds 1 mol equivalent of VIVO2+. On the other hand VBS2 correspond to binding of several mol equivalents of VIVO, and studies done with PSA in the presence of excess ZnII ions indicate that VSB2 corresponds to two distinct types of sites. The hyperfine coupling constant Az for VIVO2+ binding at VBS2 on HSA and BSA are all very similar (~168 × 10-4 cm-1) but differ slightly on PSA (~166 × 10-4 cm-1) due to differences in the binding sets. When (VIVO)-HSA systems are titrated with maltol ternary species of (maltol)m(VIVO)mHSA and (maltol)2m(VIVO)mHSA stoichiometry form which are clearly distinguishable from the binary (VIVO)-HSA system by the type and intensity of the CD spectra recorded. Changes are also observable in the intensity of the X-band EPR spectra, but not much in the hyperfine coupling constants Az, which are all in the range 166-167 × 10-4 cm-1. The results further demonstrate that the presence of maltol may enhance the binding of VIVO to albumin.

O risco de inundação resulta do produto da probabilidade do perigo, da vulnerabilidade e do valor dos elementos expostos. O objectivo deste estudo é elaborar a carta de risco de inundação para um troço (4 km) do rio Febros no Concelho de Vila Nova de Gaia. O processamento de dados espaciais de alta resolução permite extrair dados de entrada para a modelação hidráulica de inundação. Para atingir estes objectivos foram utilizados dois tipos de dados espaciais: Modelo Digital de Superfície (MDS) com 1 x 1 m2 LiDAR e orto-imagens CIR (Color Infra-Red, ou ainda falsa cor) com resolução espacial de 50 cm. O Modelo Digital do Terreno (MDT) é obtido através da interpolação espacial dos pontos não-terreno resultantes da filtragem do MDS. A subtracção do MDT a partir do MDS fornece os dados de altura dos objectos. As zonas de vegetação são extraídas das imagens de alta resolução através do cálculo do Índice de Vegetação Diferença Normalizada (IVDN). O cruzamento do mapa de vegetação com o mapa da altura dos objectos, permite obter a altura da vegetação. Neste mapa, os pixeis com um valor de altura superior a 2 m são removidos, para obter o Modelo Digital de Superfície do Escoamento (MDSe) utilizado no modelo LISFLOOD-FP como dado de entrada. A distribuição espacial dos coeficientes de resistência é representada a partir das classes ocupação do solo obtidas através de uma abordagem de classificação ao nível do pixel. Foi utilizado o método de classificação assistida, algoritmo de Máxima Verossimilhança, nas orto- -imagens de alta resolução. O Modelo Digital de Superfície Normalizado (MDSn), resultante a diferença entre o MDS e o MDT foi utilizado como informação auxiliar para melhorar os mapas produzidos por classificação automática. Os valores dos coeficientes de resistência para cada classe de ocupação foram determinados com base em Chow (1959). Utilizou-se o modelo hidrológico HEC Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) para simular o hidrograma de escoamento superficial correspondente à precipitação para o período de retorno de 100 anos. O hidrograma foi calculado pelo método do Soil Conservation Service que se apresenta como uma metodologia completa e consistente para o cálculo de caudais de ponta de cheia em pequenas bacias hidrográficas que não possuam registos hidrométricos. A metodologia de cálculo da vulnerabilidade é baseada na Base Geográfica de Referenciação da Informação (BGRI) dos Censos de 2001, à unidade espacial da subsecção estatística. De acordo com a distribuição da população, nível de escolaridade, idade, actividades económicas e características dos edifícios foi calculada a vulnerabilidade através da Análise Factorial, utilizando como método de extracção a Análise de Componentes Principais. Para sintetizar a informação procedeu-se à classificação das subsecções com base nos factores extraídos anteriormente, de modo a organizar as subsecções em grupos de forma o mais homogéneo possível (Análise de Clusters). A carta de risco de inundação apresenta a delimitação e classificação das zonas inundadas de acordo com o risco associado para um período de retorno de 100 anos.

info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersion

info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersion

Plant communities display a vertical structure based on the size and growth pattern of the dominant species. To a large extent, this pattern, called vertical stratification, depends on the climatic zone. Vertical structure analysis consists in detecting the number of layers and their limits within a forest stand. So far, there is a lack of robust approaches applied to airborne laser scanning (ALS) data that properly segment the different strata of forests having complex structures. In this study, we propose a procedure to characterize vertical forest stratification based on the mean shift (MS) algorithm. The MS is a non-linear filter that searches for local density maxima (modes). It is a non-parametric and unsupervised approach, which only requires a single criterion, the kernel bandwidth. Since the forest point cloud is a multi-modal distribution, the MS is used to find the modes which are supposed to be the barycenters of vegetation features. Once achieved, the modes are grouped together according to height range and the corresponding ALS points are assigned to each vegetation strata. Due to their complex pattern, using a single scale over the whole space is not recommended for the analysis of such environments. On this basis, the modes are computed using a variable kernel bandwidth according to the forest pattern. To depict such a pattern, we propose a new technique that segments the main forest layers at the plot level: overstory, understory, and surface vegetation. The procedure has been carried out on 45 plots of a Portuguese forest mainly composed of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) and pine (Pinus pinaster) trees that can be strongly populated by understory and surface vegetation.