Amplification of the Signal-to-Noise Ratio in Cosmic Ray Maps Using the Mexican Hat Wavelet Family

In this work we analyze the effect of smoothing maps containing arrival directions of cosmic rays with a gaussian kernel and kernels of the mexican hat wavelets of orders 1, 2 and 3. The analysis is performed by calculating the amplification of the signal-to-noise ratio for several background patterns (noise) and different number of events coming from a simulated source (signal) for an ideal detector capable of observing the full sky with uniform coverage. We extend this analysis for a virtual observatory with two sites, one in the northern hemisphere, the other in the southern, considering an acceptance law.Comment: Contributions to the 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference, Beijing, China, August 201

Architecture and negotiation protocols for a smart parking system

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáSmart City uses emerging technologies to improve citizens’ quality of life. A branch of this topic is the Smart Parking, where the parking system implements intelligent mechanisms to simplify to the searching of parking spots and consequently decrease the traffic of cars. This work proposes an architecture using Multi-Agent System (MAS), enhanced with some holonic systems principles, that is capable to be applied to different range of parking systems, e.g., considering trucks, cars, or bicycles. Being a distributed architecture, a special attention is devoted to study the negotiation protocols that will regulate the behavior of autonomous and cooperative actors in the system, namely drivers and parking spots, during allocation process of parking spots to drivers. For this purpose, the Contract Net Protocol (CNP), English Auction, Dutch Auction and Faratin Auction were the tested, being the CNP the selected protocol for this problem. Also addressing the distributed nature of the system, some efforts were focused on the security of the messages exchanged between the agents was proposed using Secure Socket Layer (SSL). The proposed multi-agent systems architecture was implemented using JADE (Java Agent DEvelopment Framework), which is a FIPA-compliant agent development framework that simplifies the development of agent-based applications. The exchange of messages follows the FIPA-ACL protocol using the CNP protocol for the negotiation. The communication between the agents and the User Interface is performed through the use of Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol

Análise da Implantação do RPKI no Brasil

Sequestro de prefixos é um problema que enfrentamos atualmente na internet que pode levar a indisponibilidade de um ASN ou roubo de informações. Existem diversas ferramentas para se proteger desse tipo de ataque, sendo o RPKI o mais promissor, onde é criado certificados digitais para autorizar um ASN a anunciar determinado prefixo e o Brasil está adotando esta solução. Neste trabalho de conclusão analisamos o crescimento da implantação do RPKI neste primeiro ano de adoção no Brasil. Também correlacionamos informações que mostram que os treinamentos para utilização dessa ferramenta têm impulsionado significativamente para o crescimento da adoção do RPKI.Prefix hijacking is a problem we currently face on the internet that can lead to the DoS attack or steal information. There are several tools to protect against this type of attack, the RPKI being the most promising, where digital certificates are created to authorize an ASN to announce a certain prefix, and Brazil is adopting this solution. In this work we analyze the growth of the implementation of RPKI in this first year of adoption in Brazil. We also correlated information that shows that training to use this tool has significantly boosted the growth in the adoption of RPKI

Evaluating urban freight transport policies within complex urban environments

Urban Freight Transport (UFT) entails significant advantages for the economic growth of cities, but can also hamper population quality of life, obstructing vehicles and people movements while exacerbating environmental problems. Many initiatives have been engaged by many city administrators in order to efficiently manage UFT, evaluating different policies at a global scale. From the perspective of operators, most works analyze a limited set of policies or only focus on the benefits of companies. In this work, a decisionmaking process is used to evaluate a large set of UFT policies, through different attributes representing the advantages and limitations of each policy over promoter companies and the society. To do so, an ex-ante procedure in five steps is proposed to classify the policies: (1) attributes definition, (2) attributes weighting, (3) policy-attribute assessment, (4) policy ranking, and (5) feasibility threshold satisfaction. The whole process is supported on consultations to 26 experts regarding shop supply and restocking activities within complex urban environments. Results show a classification of the analyzed policies, according to their suitability for implementation ; which could be extended (directly or with small adjustments) to other contexts, given the flexibility of the decision-making procedure developed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Wavelets Applied to the Detection of Point Sources of UHECRs

In this work we analyze the effect of smoothing maps containing arrival directions of cosmic rays with a gaussian kernel and kernels of the mexican hat wavelets of orders 1, 2 and 3. The analysis is performed by calculating the amplification of the signal-to-noise ratio for several anisotropy patterns (noise) and different number of events coming from a simulated source (signal) for an ideal detector capable of observing the full sky with equal probability. We extend this analysis for a virtual detector located within the array of detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory, considering an acceptance law.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures. Proceedings of the Young Researchers Meeting, 2010. Available in: http://www.ifi.unicamp.br/physicae/ojs-2.1.1/index.php/physicae/article/view/191; Physicae, Proceedings of the Young Researchers Meeting, Vol 1, 201

A gestão do risco cambial um estudo de caso

Dissertação de Mestrado em Contabilidade e FinançasUma vez que a globalização dos negócios é um factor cada vez mais importante, este trabalho reflete a importância da gestão do risco nos mercados internacionais, identificando-os, bem como suas as técnicas de cobertura. Procurou-se fazer uma ligação entre as técnicas de cobertura do risco e as técnicas de pagamento abordadas pela literatura, com as técnicas à disposição das empresas portuguesas, bem como verificar se estas estão preocupadas com esta problemática e se fazem uma eficaz gestão do risco nos mercados internacionais. Foi também realizado um estudo de caso sobre uma empresa portuguesa que aposta fortemente na internacionalização, apresentando um volume de negócios para fora de Portugal acima dos 70%. Verificou-se que esta empresa apresenta algumas preocupações relativas ao risco, mas que não utiliza instrumentos financeiros para o efeito, sendo que o principal motivo é a não existência destes no seu principal marcado – Angola. Apesar da empresa estar bastante sujeita ao risco cambial, é o risco de crédito o seu principal problema, através dos atrasos nos recebimentos. É, portanto, crucial que a empresa expanda o seu negócio para outros mercados internacionais com baixa correlação com os actuais, evidenciando o efeito de diversificação, com o objectivo de diminuir o risco.Since the globalization of business is an increasingly important factor, this work reflects the importance of risk management in international markets, identifying them as well as the techniques of their coverage. We tried to make a connection between the techniques of hedging and payment techniques discussed in literature with the techniques available to the Portuguese companies, as well as verify that they are concerned about this issue and make an effective risk management in international markets. It also conducted a case study of a Portuguese company that invests heavily in internationalization, with a turnover out of Portugal over 70%. It was found that this company has some concerns about the risk, but that does not use financial instruments for this purpose and the main reason is the lack of these in its flagship brand - Angola. Although the company is very subject to currency risk, credit risk is the main problem, through delays in receipts. It is therefore crucial that the company expand its business to other international markets with low correlation with the current, showing the effects of diversification, with the aim of reducing risk

Detection of Point Sources in Cosmic Ray Maps using the Mexican Hat Wavelet Family

An analysis of the sensitivity of gaussian and mexican hat wavelet family filters to the detection of point sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays was performed. A source embedded in a background was simulated and the number of events and amplitude of this source was varied aiming to check the sensitivity of the method to detect faint sources with low statistic of events.Comment: Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Strong Electromagnetic Fields and Neutron Stars (Havana, Cuba, 2011). 6 pages, 4 figure

Acquisition and report of environmental control units

Estágio realizado na MVI SOLVE-IT, e orientado pela Dr. Sandra GordnerTese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Industrial e Gestão. Universidade do Porto. Faculdade de Engenharia. 201