A smart layer for remote laboratories

Commonly, when a weblab is developed to support remote experiments in sciences and engineering courses, a particular hardware/software architecture is implemented. However, the existence of several technological solutions to implement those architectures difficults the emergence of a standard, both at hardware and software levels. While particular solutions are adopted assuming that only qualified people may implement a weblab, the control of the physical space and the power consumption are often forgotten. Since controlling these two previous aspects may increase the quality of the weblab hosting the remote experiments, this paper proposes the useof a new layer implemented by a domotic system bus with several devices (e.g. lights, power sockets, temperature sensors, and others) able to be controlled through the Internet. We also provide a brief proof-of-concept in the form of a weblab equipped with a simple domotic system usually implemented in smart houses. The added value to the remote experiment hosted at the weblab is also identified in terms of power savings and environment conditions.

Children, space, and the urban street: an ethnomathematics posture

Dissertation presented for the PhD Degree in Education Science – Curricular Theory and Science Teaching, by Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

ERICA: use of screens and consumption of meals and snacks by Brazilian adolescents

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To describe the length of exposure to screens and the prevalence of consumption of meals and snacks by Brazilian adolescents in front of screens. METHODS We evaluated 74,589 12 to 17-year old adolescents from 1,247 schools in 124 Brazilian municipalities. A self-administered questionnaire was used. Its segment regarding nutrition contained questions about using TV, computers, and video game systems, having meals while watching TV, and consuming snacks in front of screens. Consumption of meals and snacks in front of screens was analyzed according to the following variables: geographical region, gender, age range, type of school (public or private), and school shift. The prevalences and their respective 95% confidence intervals were estimated under a complex sampling design. RESULTS A great deal of the adolescents (73.5%, 95%CI 72.3-74.7) reported spending two or more hours a day in front of screens. That habit was more frequent among male adolescents, private school students, morning shift students, and students from Brazil’s South region. More than half of the adolescents (56.6%, 95%CI 55.4-57.8) reported almost always or always having meals in front of TV, and 39.6% (95%CI 38.8-40.5) of them said they consumed snacks in front of screens exactly as often. Both situations were the most prevalent ones among the girls, who attended public schools and were from Brazil’s Midwest region. CONCLUSIONS Length of exposure to screens and consumption of meals and snacks almost always or always in front of screens are high among Brazilian adolescents. It is necessary to develop strategies aiming to reduce the length of screen use, considering the media reality that children and adolescents have been experiencing from earlier and earlier ages. That context must therefore be analyzed in an indissociable way.

ERICA: patterns of alcohol consumption in Brazilian adolescents

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To describe the patterns of alcohol consumption in Brazilian adolescents. METHODS We investigated adolescents who participated in the Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents (ERICA). This is a cross-sectional, national and school-based study, which surveyed adolescents of 1,247 schools from 124 Brazilian municipalities. Participants answered a self-administered questionnaire with a section on alcoholic beverages consumption. Measures of relative frequency (prevalence), and their 95% confidence intervals, were estimated for the following variables: use of alcohol beverages in the last 30 days, frequency of use, number of glasses or doses consumed in the period, age of the first use of alcohol, and most consumed type of drink. Data were estimated for country and macro-region, sex, and age group. The module survey of the Stata program was used for data analysis of complex sample. RESULTS We evaluated 74,589 adolescents, who accounted for 72.9% of eligible students. About 1/5 of adolescents consumed alcohol at least once in the last 30 days and about 2/3 in one or two occasions during this period. Among the adolescents who consumed alcoholic beverages, 24.1% drank it for the first time before being 12 years old, and the most common type of alcoholic beverages consumed by them were drinks based on vodka, rum or tequila, and beer. CONCLUSIONS There is a high prevalence of alcohol consumption among adolescents, as well as their early onset of alcohol use. We also identified a possible change in the preferred type of alcoholic beverages compared with previous research.

The intersection of people, technology and local space. PPGIS and Web in practice for participatory planning

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies

Space is a doubt: présence et ambiance vécue

Cet article se propose réfléchir à la présence créatrice du performer depuis la notion d’ambiance du choréographe japonais Y. Amagatzu. La notion d’ambiance est décrite par Yoshio Amagatzu comme une spatialité émergente de la rencontre des sujets – performers et public – dans l’espace performatif ; une spatialité sensible exprimant le potentiel de cette rencontre avec une « force orientatrice » spécifique. Mon approche s’intéresse en particulier aux conditions d’accordage (attunement) du performer au potentiel de cette spatialité émergente et aux effets de cette « adhérence perceptive» sur sa présence créatrice. Une approche qui m’a mené à étendre la notion de mouvement à l’espace de la relation performative, au delà des contours visibles du corps physique.

Eficiência energética em edifícios residenciais da cidade do Porto

O consumo de energia a nível mundial tem atingido valores históricos, devido ao crescimento da população mundial e ao aumento do consumo per capita. Nesta medida é extremamente importante existirem alternativas para que a redução do consumo de energia de todos os países seja uma realidade, evitando também as consequências ambientais, em particular as alterações climáticas, resultantes da utilização intensiva de combustíveis fósseis. Portugal, tal como outros países da União Europeia, tem que cumprir metas, pelo que é urgente encontrarem-se soluções de forma a diminuir o consumo de energia sem interferir com o nosso dia-a-dia. A cidade do Porto, tal como qualquer cidade, precisa de imensa energia desde os transportes até à indústria, passando pelos edifícios. Os edifícios, residenciais e de serviços, são responsáveis por mais de 50% de energia primária consumida no concelho do Porto, sendo que aos edifícios residenciais corresponde um consumo de 1.473 GWh/ano de energia primária, o que é um valor elevado. Numa primeira parte deste trabalho foi efetuado um levantamento de informação caracterizando a cidade do Porto relativamente ao seu edificado e consumos energéticos. Numa segunda parte propuseram-se medidas para reduzir o consumo para cada tipo de utilização de energia, nomeadamente preparação de refeições, AQS (água quente sanitária), aquecimento ambiente, frio (frigorífico, arcas, etc.), outros e iluminação. Para cada um destes tipos de utilização estudou-se, sempre que possível, a evolução do longo do tempo (2004 a 2012) e possíveis cenários de evolução para o futuro. Para além disso, também se estudou a evolução do mix de produção de energia elétrica de 2004 até 2012 e previsões da evolução do mix para o futuro. Nesta análise foi tido em conta o aspeto ambiental contabilizando-se, sempre que possível, as emissões de poluentes resultantes do consumo de energia. Por fim, efetuou-se uma avaliação técnica, ambiental e económica das medidas propostas. Pode dizer-se que a maioria das medidas propostas a serem implementadas conduziria a uma redução do consumo de energia e consequentemente a uma diminuição das emissões de poluentes, em particular dos gases com efeito de estufa (CO2). Em termos técnicos a maioria das medidas pode ser aplicada embora algumas delas envolvam custos de investimento significativos. Dada a conjuntura atual, seria importante obter o financiamento necessário para a implementação das medidas propostas e a divulgação de medidas já existentes, tais como os programas para AQS e janelas eficientes.

Optimising the energy consumption on pultrusion process

This study is based on a previous experimental work in which embedded cylindrical heaters were applied to a pultrusion machine die, and resultant energetic performance compared with that achieved with the former heating system based on planar resistances. The previous work allowed to conclude that the use of embedded resistances enhances significantly the energetic performance of pultrusion process, leading to 57% decrease of energy consumption. However, the aforementioned study was developed with basis on an existing pultrusion die, which only allowed a single relative position for the heaters. In the present work, new relative positions for the heaters were investigated in order to optimise heat distribution process and energy consumption. Finite Elements Analysis was applied as an efficient tool to identify the best relative position of the heaters into the die, taking into account the usual parameters involved in the process and the control system already tested in the previous study. The analysis was firstly developed based on eight cylindrical heaters located in four different location plans. In a second phase, in order to refine the results, a new approach was adopted using sixteen heaters with the same total power. Final results allow to conclude that the correct positioning of the heaters can contribute to about 10% of energy consumption reduction, decreasing the production costs and leading to a better eco-efficiency of pultrusion process.

Space-time monitoring of prescribed burnt soils performance – an effective tool for forest management

Among the most important measures to prevent wild forest fires is the use of prescribed and controlled burning actions in order to reduce the availability of fuel mass. However, the impact of these activities on soil physical and chemical properties varies according to the type of both soil and vegetation and is not fully understood. Therefore, soil monitoring campaigns are often used to measure these impacts. In this paper we have successfully used three statistical data treatments - the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test followed by the ANOVA and the Kruskall-Wallis tests – to investigate the variability among the soil pH, soil moisture, soil organic matter and soil iron variables for different monitoring times and sampling procedures.

Long-run consumption risk with durable goods : UK evidence for equity and bond markets

"It is a widely accepted fact that the consumption-based capital asset pricing model (CCAPM) fails to provide a good explanation of many important features of the behaviour of financial market returns in a large range of countries over a long period of time. However, within a representative consumer/investor model, it is hard to see how the basic structure of the consumption based model can be safely abandoned." [introdução]

How to reduce energy consumption on pultrusion

The global warming due to high CO2 emission in the last years has made energy saving a global problem nowadays. However, manufacturing processes such as pultrusion necessarily needs heat for curing the resin. Then, the only option available is to apply all efforts to make the process even more efficient. Different heating systems have been used on pultrusion, however, the most widely used are the planar resistances. The main objective of this study is to develop another heating system and compares it with the former one. Thermography was used in spite of define the temperature profile along the die. FEA (finite element analysis) allows to understand how many energy is spend with the initial heating system. After this first approach, changes were done on the die in order to test the new heating system and to check possible quality problems on the product. Thus, this work allows to conclude that with the new heating system a significant reduction in the setup time is now possible and an energy reduction of about 57% was achieved.

The impact of driving styles on fuel consumption: a data-warehouse-and-data-mining-based discovery process

This paper discusses the results of applied research on the eco-driving domain based on a huge data set produced from a fleet of Lisbon's public transportation buses for a three-year period. This data set is based on events automatically extracted from the control area network bus and enriched with GPS coordinates, weather conditions, and road information. We apply online analytical processing (OLAP) and knowledge discovery (KD) techniques to deal with the high volume of this data set and to determine the major factors that influence the average fuel consumption, and then classify the drivers involved according to their driving efficiency. Consequently, we identify the most appropriate driving practices and styles. Our findings show that introducing simple practices, such as optimal clutch, engine rotation, and engine running in idle, can reduce fuel consumption on average from 3 to 5l/100 km, meaning a saving of 30 l per bus on one day. These findings have been strongly considered in the drivers' training sessions.

Optimal brake specific fuel consumption trajectory for stand-alone variable speed Diesel Gen-Set

Energy efficiency plays an important role to the CO2 emissions reduction, combating climate change and improving the competitiveness of the economy. The problem presented here is related to the use of stand-alone diesel gen-sets and its high specific fuel consumptions when operates at low loads. The variable speed gen-set concept is explained as an energy-saving solution to improve this system efficiency. This paper details how an optimum fuel consumption trajectory based on experimentally Diesel engine power map is obtained.

ECG biometrics using a dissimilarity space representation

Electrocardiogram (ECG) biometrics are a relatively recent trend in biometric recognition, with at least 13 years of development in peer-reviewed literature. Most of the proposed biometric techniques perform classifi-cation on features extracted from either heartbeats or from ECG based transformed signals. The best representation is yet to be decided. This paper studies an alternative representation, a dissimilarity space, based on the pairwise dissimilarity between templates and subjects' signals. Additionally, this representation can make use of ECG signals sourced from multiple leads. Configurations of three leads will be tested and contrasted with single-lead experiments. Using the same k-NN classifier the results proved superior to those obtained through a similar algorithm which does not employ a dissimilarity representation. The best Authentication EER went as low as 1:53% for a database employing 503 subjects. However, the employment of extra leads did not prove itself advantageous.

Is there space for senior civil servants hybrid management models across political- administrative systems?

Comunicação apresentada na 17.ª conferência anual da NISPACee, realizada de 14 a 16 de Maio de 2009.