855 research outputs found
Computing the phase diagram of binary mixtures: a patchy particle case study
We investigate the phase behaviour of 2D mixtures of bi-functional and
three-functional patchy particles and 3D mixtures of bi-functional and
tetra-functional patchy particles by means of Monte Carlo simulations and
Wertheim theory. We start by computing the critical points of the pure systems
and then we investigate how the critical parameters change upon lowering the
temperature. We extend the Successive Umbrella Sampling method to mixtures to
make it possible to extract information about the phase behaviour of the system
at a fixed temperature for the whole range of densities and compositions of
interest.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure
The heterogeneous best-worst choice method in market research
WOS:000280441000009 (Nº de Acesso Web of Science)The article presents a market research technique for obtaining information on consumer preferences, called the heterogeneous best-worst (HBW) choice method. It accounts for preference heterogeneity, making it more accurate than the direct method (DM), and causes less information overload than other indirect methods. An example involving undergraduates picking a business school is presented to illustrate how the HBW choice method operates. It is demonstrated that the HBW and DM approaches produce very similar results, but the HBW method allows for more differentiation of extreme preferences
Properties of patchy colloidal particles close to a surface: a Monte Carlo and density functional study
We investigate the behavior of a patchy particle model close to a hard-wall
via Monte Carlo simulation and density functional theory (DFT). Two DFT
approaches, based on the homogeneous and inhomogeneous versions of Wertheim's
first order perturbation theory for the association free energy are used. We
evaluate, by simulation and theory, the equilibrium bulk phase diagram of the
fluid and analyze the surface properties for two isochores, one of which is
close to the liquid side of the gas-liquid coexistence curve. We find that the
density profile near the wall crosses over from a typical high-temperature
adsorption profile to a low-temperature desorption one, for the isochore close
to coexistence. We relate this behavior to the properties of the bulk network
liquid and find that the theoretical descriptions are reasonably accurate in
this regime. At very low temperatures, however, an almost fully bonded network
is formed, and the simulations reveal a second adsorption regime which is not
captured by DFT. We trace this failure to the neglect of orientational
correlations of the particles, which are found to exhibit surface induced
orientational order in this regime
Exploiting Template Metaprogramming to customize an object-oriented operating system
Nowadays, the growing complexity of embedded systems demands for configurability, variability and reuse. Conditional compilation and object-orientation are two of the most applied approaches in the management of system variability. While the former increases the code management complexity, the latter leverages the needed modularity and adaptability to simplify the development of reusable and customizable software at the expense of performance and memory penalty. This paper shows how C++ TMP (Template Metaprogramming) can be applied to manage the variability of an object-oriented operating system and at the same time get ride out of the performance and memory footprint overhead. In doing so, it will be statically generated only the desired functionalities, thus ensuring that code is optimized and adjusted to application requirements and hardware resources.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT
Osteoporosis management during the COVID-19 pandemic - Position paper
verCOVID-19 pandemic significantly increased the already large number of victims of osteoporosis in Portugal. Osteoporosis outpatient clinics were either closed or had limited presential appointments. Many hospitals reduced orthopaedic services to make space for patients with COVID-19. In addition, the volunteer or forced sedentarism, as imposed by the pandemic, increased the risk of falls and fractures drastically. It urges to intensify the current efforts to improve the management of bone health and to prioritize fragility fracture care and prevention. This paper addresses the challenges in osteoporosis management during the COVID-19 pandemic and provides guidance on osteoporosis management. This position paper is a joint initiative of several health professionals and patients dedicated to osteoporosis.publishersversionpublishe
The Estimates of Retinal Ganglion Cell Counts Performed Better than Isolated Structure and Functional Tests for Glaucoma Diagnosis
Purpose. To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) counts as estimated by combining data from standard automated perimetry (SAP) and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Methods. Healthy individuals and glaucoma patients were included in this cross-sectional study. All eyes underwent 24-2 SITA SAP and structural imaging tests. RGC count estimates were obtained using a previously described algorithm, which combines estimates of RGC numbers from SAP sensitivity thresholds and SD-OCT retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) average thickness. Results. A total of 119 eyes were evaluated, including 75 eyes of 48 healthy individuals and 44 eyes of 29 glaucoma patients. RGC count estimates performed better than data derived from SD-OCT RNFL average thickness or SAP mean deviation alone (area under ROC curves: 0.98, 0.92, and 0.79; P<0.001) for discriminating healthy from glaucomatous eyes, even in a subgroup of eyes with mild disease (0.97, 0.88, and 0.75; P<0.001). There was a strong and significant correlation between estimates of RGC numbers derived from SAP and SD-OCT (R2=0.74; P<0.001). Conclusion. RGC count estimates obtained by combined structural and functional data showed excellent diagnostic accuracy for discriminating the healthy from the glaucomatous eyes and performed better than isolated structural and functional parameters
Poredbene hematološke i biokemijske analize divovske amazonske kornjače uzgajane pod lošim i normalnim hranidbenim uvjetima
Besides indicating the baseline values of the species, blood parameter assessments of chelonian may also be used as quick tools for diagnosing health status. An investigation was carried out to assess and compare red blood cells parameters, white blood cell (WBC) and total thrombocyte counts and certain blood biochemical parameters for freshwater turtles, Podocnemis expansa Schweigger, 1812 (Pelomedusidae) reared on normal (control group) and poor nutrition (malnourished group). For the malnourished turtles, a signififi cant decrease (P<0.05) in red blood cell counts was found, including hematocrit, plasma glucose, plasma total protein, cholesterol and urea levels, as well as WBC counts, azurophils and heterophils. Malnutrition did not alter the hemostasis, but caused severe normocytic-hypocromic anemia and marked immune depression, which were diagnosed here. This study was the fifi rst to characterize the physiological and immune status of giant turtles from
the Amazon under adverse nutritional conditions.Osim za utvrđivanje osnovnih vrijednosti osebujnih za vrstu, pretraživanje krvnih pokazatelja može u kornjača biti rabljeno za brzo određivanje njihova zdravstvenoga stanja. Istraživanje je poduzeto da se odrede i usporede pokazatelji crvenih krvnih stanica, bijelih krvnih stanica, ukupnog broja trombocita i neki biokemijski pokazatelji za slatkovodne kornjače Podocnemis expansa Schweigger, 1812 (Pelomedusidae) uzgajane u normalnim (kontrolna skupina) i lošim hranidbenim uvjetima (pokusna skupina). U kornjača uzgajanih u lošim uvjetima ustanovljen je značajno smanjen (P<0,05) broj crvenih krvnih stanica kao i smanjene vrijednosti hematokrita, razine glukoze u plazmi, razine ukupnih proteina plazme, kolesterola i mokraćevine te broj bijelih krvnih stanica, azurofila i heterofila. Loša hranidba nije utjecala na hemostazu, ali je prouzročila tešku normocitnu hipokromnu anemiju i znatnu imunodepresiju. Ovo je prvo istraživanje u kojem je prikazan fiziološki i imunološki status divovske kornjače iz Amazone, držane u nepovoljnim hranidbenim uvjetima
Experiments with embedded system design at UMinho and AIT
Nowadays, embedded systems are central to modern life,
mainly due to the scientific and technological advances of the last decades
that started a new reality in which the embedded systems market has
been growing steadily, along with a monthly or even weekly emergence
of new products with different applications across several domains. This
embedded system ubiquity was the drive for the following question ”Why
should we focus on embedded systems design?” that was answered in [1,
2] with the following points: (1) high and fast penetration in products
and services due to the integration of networking, operating system and
database capabilities, (2) very strategic field economically and (3) a new
and relatively undefined subject in academic environment. Other adja-
cent questions have been raised such as ”Why is the design of embedded
systems special?”. The answer for this last question is based mainly on
several problems raised by the new technologies, such as the need for
more human resources in specialized areas and high learning curve for
system designers. As pointed in [1], these problems can prevent many
companies from adopting these new technologies or force them not to
respond timely in mastering these technological and market challenges.
In this paper, it is described how staff at ESRG-UMinho
1
and ISE-AIT
2
faced the embedded systems challenges at several levels. It starts to de-
scribe the development of the educational context for the new technolo-
gies and show how our Integrated Master Curriculum in Industrial Elec-
tronics and Computer Engineering has been adapted to satisfy the needs
of the major university customers, the industry
Biodegradation assessment of a 16th century fresco from Southern Portugal
This work reports the study of the frescoes from the Casa de Fresco dos Sanches Baena in Vila Viçosa (Southeast Portugal) to allow their material characterisation, to identify the different populations of microorganisms and to assess their role in the deterioration of these paintings
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