Compliant contact force models in multibody dynamics : evolution of the Hertz contact theory

Over the last decades, several compliant contact force models have been proposed. However, no complete and systematic comparison has been done on these models, which provides information on their range of application and accuracy for use in different contact scenarios. Thus, the selection of an appropriate model for a given contact problem is still an important and challenging issue to be addressed. The Hertzian contact theory remains the foundation for almost all of the available force models, but by itself, it is not appropriate for most impacts in practice, due to the amount of energy dissipated during the impact. A good number of contact force models have been offered that augment the Hertzian law with a damping term to accommodate the energy loss during the impact process for small or moderate impact velocities. In this work, the main issues associated with the most common compliant contact force models of this type are analyzed. Results in terms of the dynamic simulations of multibody systems are presented, which allow for the comparison of the similarities and differences among the models considered.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - DACHOR - Multibody Dynamics and Control of Hybrid Active Orthoses (MIT-Pt/BSHHMS/0042/2008), BIOJOINTS - Development of advanced biological joint models for human locomotion biomechanics (PTDC/EMEPME/ 099764/2008), SFRH/BD/40164/2007, SFRH/BD/64477/200

Effects of reallocating fishing effort from trawling to creels in a Norway lobster fishery

The consequences of reallocating fishing effort from trawling to creels in an area off the West coast of Portugal for the operation of the trawl fleet, as well as on the population dynamics and the global catch value for a high valued species, the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) are evaluated. The results suggest that only small portions of the area of interest are used by the trawl fleet, opening the possibility for a trawl ban without major disruption of the trawling activity. Economic benefits are expected, since predictions two scenarios tested, heavy and moderate exploitation, indicate no loss of catch value with much lower operational costs. Social benefits to local communities can also be expected since a much lower investment is needed for creel fishing, making this fishery attractive to small local companies already operating in the region. The proposed ban is consistent with the ecosystem approach to fisheries management and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) where the transition towards more responsible fishing practices is encouraged.H2020 RIA Project [634495-MINOUW

Flying under the radar - impact and factors influencing asymptomatic DENV infections

The clinical outcome of DENV and other Flaviviruses infections represents a spectrum of severity that ranges from mild manifestations to severe disease, which can ultimately lead to death. Nonetheless, most of these infections result in an asymptomatic outcome that may play an important role in the persistent circulation of these viruses. Also, although little is known about the mechanisms that lead to these asymptomatic infections, they are likely the result of a complex interplay between viral and host factors. Specific characteristics of the infecting viral strain, such as its replicating efficiency, coupled with host factors, like gene expression of key molecules involved in the immune response or in the protection against disease, are among crucial factors to study. This review revisits recent data on factors that may contribute to the asymptomatic outcome of the world's widespread DENV, highlighting the importance of silent infections in the transmission of this pathogen and the immune status of the host.The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Project ref.PTDC/SAU-INF/30440/2017). Paulo Henriques was suported by ARDITI (Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação) through a PhD Grant (M1420-09-5369-FSE-000001)

Consumer, retailer, and producer green orientation as a marketing driver: an empirical study in an urban food market

This article analyzes consumer, local producer, and retailer green orientation regarding local food production and consumption in an urban food market context. This approach extends previous research, mainly focused on green orientation of consumers, by including a broader analysis of the perceptions of different relevant stakeholders. For this purpose, an empirical study was carried out in the context of a local urban market of a medium-sized city through the application of a survey to producers, retailers, and consumers, which included a green orientation scale. Results showed that local consumers and local retailers have a similar high level of green orientation, while local producers are less green-oriented. These conclusions highlight the importance of the green “values” in local communities and the need to reinforce marketing efforts and specific training programs to different stakeholders, namely local producers focused on sustainability.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tunas off northwest Africa: The epipelagic diet of The Bigeye and Skipjack tunas

Tunas are among the most exploited top predators worldwide, with negative impacts on some of their stocks. Changes in their population abundance can impact marine food-webs and have the potential to alter entire ecosystems. To better understand the impacts of the exploitation of tuna stocks in the most critical habitats, basic knowledge on the diet of these species in each region is required. Here, we describe the diet of the two most fished tuna species in the archipelago of Madeira, the Bigeye tuna Thunnus obesus and the Skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis, based on stomach contents analysis. To gain further insights into the diet, and also better assess the possible bias caused by the occurrence of live bait in stomachs, we compared tuna mercury values with those of two other predators with similar diets that are not directly targeted by fisheries, and with Bigeye and Skipjack tunas from other ocean basins. Bigeye tunas fed mostly on Atlantic chub mackerel Scomber colias and mackerel Trachurus sp., which together contributed with 85% of total prey weight. Only 7.5% of prey weight was constituted by mesopelagic prey, including myctophids and cephalopods. Skipjack tunas had an epipelagic diet (NF = 97%), with the Atlantic chub mackerel representing half of the total prey weight, despite Longspine snipefish Macroramphosus scolopax and Sand smelt Atherina sp. accounting for 62.9% of the total number of prey. There were interannual variations in diet likely linked to interannual pelagic community shifts. Bait did not bias the results of the stomach analysis of these tunas and bait species were observed to be part of the natural diet of both tuna species. Baseline data provided by this study should allow for more informed decisions for an efficient ecosystem-based fisheries management.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Expression, purification and in vitro biological activity from human recombinant BMP-2 produced by a novel approach

Bone morphogenetic proteins have promoted great biomedical interest due to their ability in inducing new bone formation when used as powerful osteoinductive components of several late-stage bone grafting products. Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) is obtained from mammalian cell expressing systems in low amounts or from bacteria inclusion bodies after timeconsuming refolding methods. Thus, there is a need to establish novel approaches for producing rhBMP-2 in high yields by simple and cheap procedures.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technolog y, FCT (PhD Grant to PC Bessa , SFRH/BD/17049/2004). This work was also partially supported by the European STREP HIPPOCRATES (NMP3 - CT - 2003 - 505758) and carried out under the scope of European NoE EXPERTISSUES (NMP3 - CT - 2004 - 500283).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Can geocaching be an indicator of cultural ecosystem services? The case of the montado savannah-like landscape

Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) are difficult to assess and are seldom considered by land managers. Geocaching, an outdoor game that uses Global Positioning System (GPS) enabled devices to find hidden containers (geocaches) in certain locations, has been seldom used as a data source to assess CES. However, contrary to other crowdsourcing databases, geocaching allows to associate particular experiences to accurate locations. Furthermore, databases generated by geocachers provide an ideal case to compare revealed preferences (the frequency of visits to a specific geocache) with stated preferences (a posteriori evaluation of each location). We tested the relevance of geocaching databases as CES indicators using a dataset of 50 818 geocaches spread across continental Portugal, over eight land-use classes, with a focus on the montado (a high nature value farmland found in Southwestern Iberian Peninsula). We found that site visitation frequency was related with its availability, showing no revealed preference towards any land use. However, site evaluations by geocachers, measured either through the number of words describing the experience, the number of photos taken, or the number of votes for “favourite geocaches”, showed marked differences in their stated preferences, with higher appreciation for open land uses in general, and montado in particular, especially when compared to other forested landscapes. Our results may contribute to the design of regional development and land-use management policies of this threatened landscape, since they show the system’s strong potential as CES provider and, consequently, promoter of diversification of activities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Flying under the radar – impact and factors influencing asymptomatic DENV infections

The clinical outcome of DENV and other Flaviviruses infections represents a spectrum of severity that ranges from mild manifestations to severe disease, which can ultimately lead to death. Nonetheless, most of these infections result in an asymptomatic outcome that may play an important role in the persistent circulation of these viruses. Also, although little is known about the mechanisms that lead to these asymptomatic infections, they are likely the result of a complex interplay between viral and host factors. Specific characteristics of the infecting viral strain, such as its replicating efficiency, coupled with host factors, like gene expression of key molecules involved in the immune response or in the protection against disease, are among crucial factors to study. This review revisits recent data on factors that may contribute to the asymptomatic outcome of the world’s widespread DENV, highlighting the importance of silent infections in the transmission of this pathogen and the immune status of the host

A glimpse at an early stage of microbe domestication revealed in the variable genome of Torulaspora delbrueckii, an emergent industrial yeast

Microbe domestication has a major applied relevance but is still poorly understood from an evolutionary perspective. The yeast Torulaspora delbrueckii is gaining importance for biotechnology but little is known about its population structure, variation in gene content or possible domestication routes. Here, we show that T. delbrueckii is composed of five major clades. Among the three European clades, a lineage associated with the wild arboreal niche is sister to the two other lineages that are linked to anthropic environments, one to wine fermentations and the other to diverse sources including dairy products and bread dough (Mix-Anthropic clade). Using 64 genomes we assembled the pangenome and the variable genome of T. delbrueckii. A comparison with Saccharomyces cerevisiae indicated that the weight of the variable genome in the pangenome of T. delbrueckii is considerably smaller. An association of gene content and ecology supported the hypothesis that the Mix-Anthropic clade has the most specialized genome and indicated that some of the exclusive genes were implicated in galactose and maltose utilization. More detailed analyses traced the acquisition of a cluster of GAL genes in strains associated with dairy products and the expansion and functional diversification of MAL genes in strains isolated from bread dough. In contrast to S. cerevisiae, domestication in T. delbrueckii is not primarily driven by alcoholic fermentation but rather by adaptation to dairy and bread-production niches. This study expands our views on the processes of microbe domestication and on the trajectories leading to adaptation to anthropic niches.This research was funded by grants PTDC/BIA-MIC/30785/2017, SFRH/BD/136462/2018, UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 (UCIBIO), and LA/P/0140/2020 (i4HB). This work was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2019, and by the project PTDC/BIA-MIC/32059/2017 funded by national funds through FCT, I.P. and by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) and Sistema de Apoio à Investigação Científica e Tecnológica (SAICT). This work was carried out with support of INCD funded by FCT and FEDER under the project 22153-01/SAICT/2016

A comparison of automated time series forecasting tools for smart cities

Most smart city sensors generate time series records and forecasting such data can provide valuable insights for citizens and city managers. Within this context, the adoption of Automated Time Series Forecasting (AutoTSF) tools is a key issue, since it facilitates the design and deployment of multiple TSF models. In this work, we adapt and compare eight recent AutoTSF tools (Pmdarima, Prophet, Ludwig, DeepAR, TFT, FEDOT, AutoTs and Sktime) using nine freely available time series that can be related with the smart city concept (e.g., temperature, energy consumption, city traffic). An extensive experimentation was carried out by using a realistic rolling window with several training and testing iterations. Also, the AutoTSF tools were evaluated by considering both the predictive performances and required computational effort. Overall, the FEDOT tool presented the best overall performance.This work has been supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020 and the project “Integrated and Innovative Solutions for the well-being of people in complex urban centers” within the Project Scope NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000086