Robot orientation with histograms on MSL

One of the most important tasks on robot soccer is localization. The team robots should self-localize on the 18 x 12 meters soccer field. Since a few years ago the soccer field has increased and the corner posts were removed and that increased the localization task complexity. One important aspect to take care for a proper localization is to find out the robot orientation. This paper proposes a new technique to calculate the robot orientation. The proposed method consists of using a histogram of white-green transitions (to detect the lines on the field) to know the robot orientation. This technique does not take much computational time and proves to be very reliable.(undefined

Minho MSL: a new generation of soccer robots

This paper describes the new generation of Minho Team robots since the last RoboCup participation. Robots have been rebuilt from top to bottom, keeping the essence of the previous generation, but lighter, faster, improved sight, new algorithms and new technology. The demands of RoboCup MSL are very high and a new breed of robots was necessary to cope with it. This paper describes a bottom-up view of the robot, the hardware used, the vision head, the high level software and some conclusions

Estudo experimental de soluções de reabilitação térmica

As habitações rurais são, em geral, constituídas com materiais tradicionais, pedra e madeira, e apresentam um fraco comportamento térmico e higrométrico. Por outro lado, este tipo de habitação encontra-se em geral degradado, tornando-se necessário estudar soluções para reabilitar coberturas (estruturas de madeira), paredes (alvenaria de pedra) e pavimentos (madeira), melhorando a sua impermeabilização e conforto térmico, bem como, estudar metodologias adequadas para a reabilitação de construções com as características indicadas

Fermentation medium and oxygen transfer conditions that maximize the xylose conversion to ethanol by Pichia stipitis

The xylose conversion to ethanol by Pichia stipitis was studied. In a first step, the necessity of supplementing the fermentation medium with urea, MgSO4 × 7H2O, and/or yeast extract was evaluated through a 23 full factorial design. The simultaneous addition of these three nutritional sources to the fermentation medium, in concentrations of 2.3, 1.0, and 3.0 g/l, respectively, showed to be important to improve the ethanol production in detriment of the substrate conversion to cell. In a second stage, fermentation assays performed in a bioreactor under different KLa (volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient) conditions made possible understanding the influence of the oxygen transfer on yeast performance, as well as to define the most suitable range of values for an efficient ethanol production. The most promising region to perform this bioconversion process was found to be between 2.3 and 4.9 h−1, since it promoted the highest ethanol production results with practically exhaustion of the xylose from the medium. These findings contribute for the development of an economical and efficient technology for large scale production of second generation ethanol

Avaliação do processo de bioprodução de etanol a partir de xilose pela levedura Pichia Stipitis NRRL Y-7124 em reator de bancada

A produção de etanol pela levedura Pichia stipitis foi avaliada em reator de bancada sob diferentes condições de aeração e agitação em meio semi-sintético contendo xilose (90,0 g/L) como principal fonte de carbono. Os ensaios foram realizados segundo um planejamento fatorial 2² variando-se a aeração (0,25 a 0,75 vvm) e a agitação (150 a 250 rpm). Dentro da região de transferência de oxigênio estudada, o fator de conversão de substrato em produto (Y P/S) e a produtividade volumétrica em etanol (QP) sofreram pouca influencia das variáveis avaliadas. Diante disto, a máxima concentração de etanol acumulada foi o parâmetro adotado como principal critério de seleção das condições de processo. A máxima concentração de etanol, cerca de 27 g/L, foi obtida a 250 rpm de agitação e aeração de 0,25 vvm (kLa = 4,9 h-1). Nestas condições, a conversão de substrato em produto (Y P/S), eficiência (η) e produtividade em etanol (QP) foram de 0,32 g/g, 63 % e 0,32 g/L.h, respectivamente.SANTANDERFAPESPCAPESCNP

Nitrogen compounds prevent H9c2 myoblast oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death

Oxidative stress has been connected to various forms of cardiovascular diseases. Previously, we have been investigating the potential of new nitrogen-containing synthetic compounds using a neuronal cell model and different oxidative stress conditions in order to elucidate their potential to ameliorate neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we intended to extend these initial studies and investigate the protective role of four of those new synthetic compounds (FMA4, FMA7, FMA762 and FMA796) against oxidative damage induced to H9c2 cardiomyoblasts by tert-butylhydroperoxide (t-BHP). The data indicates that FMA762 and FMA796 decrease t-BHP-induced cell death, as measured by both sulforhodamine B assay and nuclear chromatin condensation evaluation, at non-toxic concentrations. In addition, the two mentioned compounds inhibit intracellular signalling mechanisms leading to apoptotic cell death, namely those mediated by mitochondria, which was confirmed by their ability to overcome t-BHP-induced morphological changes in the mitochondrial network, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, increased expression of the pro-apoptotic proteins p53, Bax and AIF and activation of caspases-3 and -9. Importantly, our results indicate that the compounds’ ROS scavenging ability plays a crucial role in the protection profile, as a significant decrease in t-BHP-induced oxidative stress occurred in their presence. Data obtained indicates that some of the test compounds may clearly prove valuable in a clinical context by diminishing cardiac injury associated to oxidative stress without any toxicity.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Bolsa SFRH/BD/17174/2004, PTDC/QUI/ 64358/200

Rapeseed oil-rich diet alters in vitro menadione and nimesulide hepatic mitochondrial toxicity

Diet-induced changes in the lipid composition of mitochondrial membranes have been shown to influence physiological processes. However, the modulation effect of diet on mitochondrially-active drugs has not yet received the deserved attention. Our hypothesis is that modulation of membrane dynamics by diet impacts drug-effects on liver mitochondrial functioning. In a previous work, we have shown that a diet rich in rapeseed oil altered mitochondrial membrane composition and bioenergetics in Wistar rats. In the present work, we investigated the influence of the modified diet on hepatic mitochondrial activity of two drugs, menadione and nimesulide, and FCCP, a classic protonophore, was used for comparison. The results showed that the effects of menadione and nimesulide were less severe on liver mitochondria for rats fed the modified diet than on rats fed the control diet. A specific effect on complex I seemed to be involved in drug-induced mitochondria dysfunction. Liver mitochondria from the modified diet group were more susceptible to nimesulide effects on MPT induction. The present work demonstrates that diet manipulation aimed at modifying mitochondrial membrane properties alters the toxicity of mitochondria active agents. This work highlights that diet may potentiate mitochondrial pharmacologic effects or increase drug-induced liabilities.The project was supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) with FEDER/COMPETE/National Budget funds (research grants PTDC/QUI-QUI/101409/2008 to P.J.O., PTDC/QUI-BIQ/103001/2008 to A.S.J. and PEst-C/SAU/LA0001/ 2013-2014 to the CNC). J.P.M. and A.M.S acknowledge FCT for Ph.D. grants SFRH/BD/37626/2007 and PTDC/AGR-ALI/108326/ 2008 respectively

MS prevalence and patients’ characteristics in the district of Braga, Portugal

Article ID 895163Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the Central Nervous System causing inflammation and neurodegeneration. There are only 3 epidemiological studies in Portugal, 2 in the Centre and 1 in the North, and there is the need to further study MS epidemiology in this country. The objective of this work is to contribute to the MS epidemiological knowledge in Portugal, describing the patients’ epidemiological, demographic, and clinical characteristics in the Braga district of Portugal. This is a cross-sectional study of 345 patients followed in two hospitals of Braga district. These hospitals cover a resident population of 866,012 inhabitants. The data was collected from the clinical records, and 31/12/2009 was established as the prevalence day. For all MS patients, demographic characteristics and clinical outcomes are reported. We have found an incidence of 2.74/100,000 and a prevalence of 39.82/100,000 inhabitants. Most patients have an EDSS of 3 or lower and a mean age of 42 years. The diagnosis was done at mean age of 35, with RRMS being the disease type in more than 80% of patients. In this cohort, we found a female : male ratio of 1.79. More than 50% of patients are treated with Interferon β-1b IM or IFNβ-1a SC 22 μg.This research was partially supported by the Research Centre of Mathematics of the University of Minho through the FEDER Funds ”Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade – COMPETE'', and by the Portuguese Funds through FCT -”Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia” within the Project Est-C/MAT/UI0013/2011

SUSY QED with Lorentz-asymmetric fermionic matter and a glance at the electron's EDM

This contribution sets out to pursue the investigation of a supersymmetric electrodynamics model with Lorentz-symmetry violation (LSV) manifested by a space-time unbalance in the propagation of the fermionic charged matter. Despite violation of Lorentz symmetry, the supersymmetry algebra is kept untouched. We then adopt a superspace approach to build up an $\mathcal{N}=1$-supersymmetric Abelian gauge theory in presence of a Lorentz-violating background supermultiplet that accommodates the space-time asymmetry parameter of the charged matter. We describe, in this scenario, how the particular Lorentz-symmetry breaking, brought about by the fermionic matter, affects its (matter) scalar partners and the photon/photino that minimally couple to charged matter. From the (modified) Dirac, Klein-Gordon and Maxwell field equations, we work out the corresponding dispersion relations to inspect and discuss the physical effects of the LSV Majorana fermion condensates that naturally emerge from the background supermultiplet. Finally, we target efforts to investigate the Gordon decomposition of the charged lepton electromagnetic current. This is carried out by iterating the (fermion and scalar) matter field equations, which points to an effective contribution to the electron's electric dipole moment (EDM). This result allows us to attain an estimate of the pseudo-vector condensate of the (LSV) Majorana background fermion.Comment: 32 pages, 1 figur