Traffic Vertical Signposting: Materials Characterization and Structural Numerical Simulation

Aknowlegements: This work was supported by the project POCI-01-0247-FEDER-010797from the Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (IAPMEI). In addition, the authors acknowledge the funding from the project UID/Multi/04044/2013 of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and PAMI - ROTEIRO/0328/2013 (Nº 022158).The existing metallic solutions used for vertical traffic signs are associated with higher costs and environmental issues due to their manufacturing and degradation, when compared with polymeric solutions. Thus, the development of vertical signs considering the injection from polymeric materials in order to overcome problems related with sustainability, maintenance costs, and to achieve higher resistance to corrosion assumes nowadays an important role. The use of ecofriendly and innovative products considering the industrial waste combined with synthetic polymers performing the appropriate mechanical properties, can also be studied to find out new solutions that allow to solve the aforementioned problems. Additionally, these innovative vertical signs can contribute to avoid vandalism events related with theft and graffiti activities. This work presents the prior materials investigation and the structural design of vertical signs that are intended to be produced through polymer injection. Three main steps were considered: i) materials research, ii) materials characterisation through the analysis of polycarbonate resin isolated and in different sets of mixtures with different concentrations through tensile testing and static water contact angle measurements to find the optimal material composition; and iii) structural numerical simulation considering polycarbonate resin and using the current standard EN 12899-1 [1] to compute wind resistance, temporary and permanent deflections. Both experimental and numerical results led to an optimized proposal of the vertical signposting structural design.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Stability and Complexity of Minimising Probabilistic Automata

We consider the state-minimisation problem for weighted and probabilistic automata. We provide a numerically stable polynomial-time minimisation algorithm for weighted automata, with guaranteed bounds on the numerical error when run with floating-point arithmetic. Our algorithm can also be used for "lossy" minimisation with bounded error. We show an application in image compression. In the second part of the paper we study the complexity of the minimisation problem for probabilistic automata. We prove that the problem is NP-hard and in PSPACE, improving a recent EXPTIME-result.Comment: This is the full version of an ICALP'14 pape

Bee communities (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) of the "Cerrado" ecosystem in Sao Paulo State, Brazil

Five surveys of the bee communities in four "Cerrado" ecosystem reserves in Sao Paulo State were compared for species richness and similarity. These areas are fragment vegetation reser-reserves located in the Cerrado Corumbata Reserve (Corumbata), Jata Ecological Park (Luiz Antonio), Cajuru (Cajuru), and Vassununga State Park - ""Gleba de Cerrado de Pe-de-Gigante"" (Santa Rita do Passa Quatro). The methodology consisted of capturing bees foraging on flowers along transects, though with small differences between surveys. These ""cerrado"" areas have a large number of species of native bees, which are important pollinators in several Brazilian ecosystems. The community of bees varied among these different fragments. Based on 500 individuals (standardized by rarefaction), Cajuru, Corumbata 1 and Corumbata 2 were the areas with highest species richness, and Jata and Pe-de-Gigante had the lowest species richness in the bee communities. The bee faunas of Corumbata 2 and Pe-de-Gigante had the highest similarity, forming a group with the bee fauna of Cajuru. The bee faunas of Corumbata 1 and Jata were isolated from this group. We found that the bee species richness and similarity found in these ""cerrado"" areas cannot be explained by general factors such as the size of the fragment, the species richness of plants and the distance between the areas. Therefore, we suppose that local factors that differ among areas, such as interactions between populations, and competition and interference from surrounding areas influence and determine bee species richness and similarity in these reserves.FAPESP (Funda ao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo)[00/06405-2]CNP

Implementasi Algoritma Greedy Untuk Melakukan Graph Coloring: Studi Kasus Peta Propinsi Jawa Timur

This paper will describe us how to coloring a graph by using greedy algorithm with the case study province of Jawa Timur. From this research we will know that for graph coloring at Jawa Timur Province only use four difference colors. Keywords: edge, graph coloring, vertex. Paper ini akan memperlihatkan sebuah teknik penggunaan algoritma Greedy untuk melakukan pewarnaan graf (graph coloring) pada peta Propinsi Jawa Timur. Dari penelitian ini diperoleh bahwa untuk melakukan pewarnaan graph di Propinsi Jawa Timur dibutuhkan sebanyak empat buah warna yang berbeda

Fish larval performance fed with copepods (Acartia grani) and the dinoflagellate (Oxyrrhis marina) as supplement: the case of dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus)

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Exploring the behavioural drivers of veterinary surgeon antibiotic prescribing: a qualitative study of companion animal veterinary surgeons in the UK

Background: Multi-drug resistant bacteria are an increasing concern in both human and veterinary medicine. Inappropriate prescribing and use of antibiotics within veterinary medicine may be a contributory factor to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The ‘One Health’ Initiative aims to work across species and environments to reduce AMR, however; little is currently known about the factors which influence antibiotic prescribing among veterinary surgeons in companion animal practice. This paper reports on qualitative data analysis of interviews with veterinary surgeons whose practice partially or wholly focuses on companion animals (N = 16). The objective of the research was to explore the drivers of companion animal veterinary surgeons’ antibiotic prescribing behaviours. The veterinary surgeons interviewed were all practising within the UK (England (n = 4), Scotland (n = 11), Northern Ireland (n = 1)). A behavioural thematic analysis of the data was undertaken, which identified barriers and facilitators to specific prescribing-related behaviours. Results: Five components of prescribing behaviours were identified: 1) confirming clinical need for antibiotics; 2) responding to clients; 3) confirming diagnosis; 4) determining dose, duration and type of antibiotic; and 5) preventing infection around surgery (with attendant appropriate and inappropriate antibiotic prescribing behaviours). Barriers to appropriate prescribing identified include: business, diagnostic, fear, habitual practice and pharmaceutical factors. Facilitators include: AMR awareness, infection prevention, professional learning and regulation and government factors. Conclusion: This paper uses a behavioural lens to examine drivers which are an influence on veterinary surgeons’ prescribing behaviours. The paper contributes new understandings about factors which influence antibiotic prescribing behaviours among companion animal veterinary surgeons. This analysis provides evidence to inform future interventions, which are focused on changing prescribing behaviours, in order to address the pressing public health concern of AMR

InSAR Meteorology: High-Resolution Geodetic Data Can Increase Atmospheric Predictability

AbstractThe present study assesses the added value of high‐resolution maps of precipitable water vapor, computed from synthetic aperture radar interferograms , in short‐range atmospheric predictability. A large set of images, in different weather conditions, produced by Sentinel‐1A in a very well monitored region near the Appalachian Mountains, are assimilated by the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model. Results covering more than 2 years of operation indicate a consistent improvement of the water vapor predictability up to a range comparable with the transit time of the air mass in the synthetic aperture radar interferograms footprint, an overall improvement in the forecast of different precipitation events, and better representation of the spatial distribution of precipitation. This result highlights the significant potential for increasing short‐range atmospheric predictability from improved high‐resolution precipitable water vapor initial data, which can be obtained from new high‐resolution all‐weather microwave sensors

Automatically Recognising European Portuguese Children's Speech

International audienceThis paper reports findings from an analysis of errors made by an automatic speech recogniser trained and tested with 3-10-year-old European Portuguese children's speech. We expected and were able to identify frequent pronunciation error patterns in the children's speech. Furthermore, we were able to correlate some of these pronunciation error patterns and automatic speech recognition errors. The findings reported in this paper are of phonetic interest but will also be useful for improving the performance of automatic speech recognisers aimed at children representing the target population of the study

Processo de sobremoldação de vedante numa tampa plástica

O objeto da presente patente é o processo de sobremoldação de uma tampa Plástica com vedante incorporado, na qual é injetado o material de maior dureza sobre o De menor dureza. Este processo de sobremoldação é aplicado somente em bi-injecção (utilização de dois materiais ou mais), em tampas plásticas rígidas para embalagens de Forma redonda ou outras. A solução adotada passou por proteger o vedante (3) do fluxo (9) do material da tampa (2) de modo a evitar que este cause deformações no vedante (3) Durante o processo de enchimento. A forma de orientação precisa do fluxo (9) do sobre o Material de menor dureza (3) evita a deformação deste ultimo recorrendo aos diferenciais De pressão conjugados com a velocidade. Desta forma é possível injetar sobre um Material de menor dureza (3), um material de maior dureza (2)