Threads and Or-Parallelism Unified

One of the main advantages of Logic Programming (LP) is that it provides an excellent framework for the parallel execution of programs. In this work we investigate novel techniques to efficiently exploit parallelism from real-world applications in low cost multi-core architectures. To achieve these goals, we revive and redesign the YapOr system to exploit or-parallelism based on a multi-threaded implementation. Our new approach takes full advantage of the state-of-the-art fast and optimized YAP Prolog engine and shares the underlying execution environment, scheduler and most of the data structures used to support YapOr's model. Initial experiments with our new approach consistently achieve almost linear speedups for most of the applications, proving itself as a good alternative for exploiting implicit parallelism in the currently available low cost multi-core architectures.Comment: 17 pages, 21 figures, International Conference on Logic Programming (ICLP 2010

Are Price Limits on Futures Markets That Cool? Evidence from the Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange

This paper investigates the impact of price limits on the Brazilian futures markets using high frequency data. The aim is to identify whether there is a cool-off or a magnet effect. For that purpose, we examine a tick-by-tick data set that includes all contracts on the S�o Paulo stock index futures traded on the Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange from January 1997 to December 1999. The results indicate that the conditional mean features a floor cool-off effect, whereas the conditional variance significantly increases as the price approaches the upper limit. We then build a trading strategy that accounts for the cool-off effect in the conditional mean so as to demonstrate that the latter has not only statistical, but also economic significance. The in-sample Sharpe ratio indeed is way superior to the buy-and-hold benchmarks we consider, whereas out-of-sample results evince similar performances.Cool-off effect, Futures markets, Magnet effect, Price limits, Transactions data

Personal data sharing acceptance for mobile application’s users : health sector analysis

Mobile applications have become essential to people’s daily lives, since nowadays they use mobile applications for many things other than just communicating. The use of mobile health applications has also increased. These apps have several benefits for both healthcare providers and patients. Companies that own mobile applications collect all types of personal information of their users. Geolocation is one of those data types. It is especially important for health mobile applications since it can help slow the spread of contagious diseases. When determining whether to disclose this kind of data, users must consider the benefits and risks of doing so. This study’s main goal is to discover which socio-demographic factors and perceived benefits and risks most strongly influence users’ willingness to share their geolocation data with mobile applications. It was concluded that the users’ generation, marital status, parenthood and employment status are the variables that impact the users’ willingness to share geolocation data with mobile apps. Being able to use the service provided by an app and having their data used for other purposes are the most frequent benefit and risk experiences by the users, respectively. Yet, it was also shown that certain risks and benefits are viewed differently by users based on their generation and gender. The following conclusions about other factors that influence the users’ willingness to share geolocation data with apps were also drawn: users are more likely to share that data periodically rather than continuously; if the data processing procedures are transparent and if data anonymity is granted, that willingness increases; some characteristics of the company that owns an app influences that willingness; rewards like donations to charity, discounts and virtual reward points have little impact on the users’ decision.Nos dias de hoje, as pessoas usam aplicações para tudo. Inevitavelmente, a consequente utilização de aplicações do setor da saúde também tem vindo a aumentar. As aplicações do setor da saúde trazem vantagens para os prestadores de serviços de saúde e para os pacientes. As empresas detentoras das aplicações recolhem todo o tipo de informação pessoal dos utilizadores, nomeadamente a geolocalização. É especialmente importante para o setor da saúde, visto que pode ajudar na prevenção de doenças contagiosas. Partilhar este tipo de informação traz benefícios e riscos que têm de ser avaliados pelos utilizadores quando decidem se devem partilhá-lo com as aplicações. O principal objetivo deste estudo é perceber quais os fatores sociodemográficos, riscos e benefícios que mais influenciam a disponibilidade dos utilizadores para partilhar dados pessoais de geolocalização com aplicações móveis, em particular, com aplicações do setor da saúde. Concluiu-se que a geração, o estado civil, a parentalidade e a situação profissional são os fatores que influenciam a decisão de partilhar dados pessoais de geolocalização com aplicações móveis. Poder utilizar o serviço prestado por uma app e ter os seus dados utilizados para outros fins são, respetivamente, o benefício e o risco mais referidos pelos utilizadores. Alguns benefícios e riscos são percecionados de forma diferente por utilizadores de géneros e gerações diferentes. Relativamente a outros fatores que influenciam a disponibilidade dos utilizadores para partilhar dados de geolocalização aferiu-se que: estão mais disponíveis para partilhar esses dados esporadicamente do que continuamente; se o processamento de dados for transparente e o anonimato for garantido, essa disponibilidade aumenta; algumas características das empresas detentoras das apps influenciam essa decisão; recompensas como doações para a caridade, descontos e pontos de recompensa virtuais, não são relevantes para a sua decisão

On the determination of flow stress using bulge test and mechanical measurement

The standard uniaxial tensile test is a widely accepted method to obtain relevant properties of sheet metal materials. These fundamental parameters can be used in numerical modeling of sheet forming operations to predict and assess formability and failure analysis. However the range of strain obtained from tensile test is limited and therefore if one will need further information on material behavior, extrapolation of tensile data is performed. The bulge test is an alternative to obtain ranges of deformation higher than tensile test, thus being possible to obtain non-extrapolated data for material behavior. Several methods may be used to obtain stress-strain data from bulge test, but a common concept is behind them, which needs the measurement of bulge pressure, curvature of bulge specimen, its thickness at the pole and the application of membrane theory. Concerning such measurements, optical methods are being used recently but classical mechanical methods are still an alternative with its own strengths. This paper presents the use and development of a mechanical measuring system to be incorporated in a hydraulic bulge test for flow curve determination, which permits real-time data acquisition under controlled strain rates up to high levels of plastic deformation. Numerical simulations of bulge test using FEM are performed and a sensitivity analysis is done for some influencing variables used in measurements, thus giving some directions in the design and use of the experimental mechanical system. Also, first experimental results are presented, showing an efficient testing procedure method for real time data acquisition with a stable evaluation of the flow curve.open11617Nsciescopu

Estimation of biomass composition from genomic and transcriptomic information

Given the great potential impact of the growing number of complete genome-scale metabolic network reconstructions of microorganisms, bioinformatics tools are needed to simplify and accelerate the course of knowledge in this field. One essential component of a genome-scale metabolic model is its biomass equation, whose maximization is one of the most common objective functions used in Flux Balance Analysis formulations. Some components of biomass, such as amino acids and nucleotides, can be estimated from genome information, providing reliable data without the need of performing lab experiments. In this work a java tool is proposed that estimates microbial biomass composition in amino acids and nucleotides, from genome and transcriptomic information, using as input files sequences in FASTA format and files with transcriptomic data in the csv format. This application allows to obtain the results rapidly and is also a user-friendly tool for users with any or little background in informatics (http://darwin.di.uminho.pt/biomass/). The results obtained using this tool are fairly close to experimental data, showing that the estimation of amino acid and nucleotide compositions from genome information and from transcriptomic data is a good alternative when no experimental data is available.The authors thank the project DeYeastLibrary - Designer yeast strain library optimized for metabolic engineering applications, Ref. ERA-IB-2/0003/2013, funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES. This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTec Norte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte

As primeiras sociedades camponesas no atual concelho de Arraiolos (Portugal): estratégias de povoamento

No âmbito do projeto LAPA - “Levantamento Arqueológico e Patrimonial de Arraiolos”, os trabalhos de prospeção arqueológica realizados entre 2010 e 2013 permitiram identificar um conjunto de novos sítios de habitat que, no seu conjunto, nos possibilitam estabelecer áreas preferenciais para o estabelecimento de povoados entre o Neolítico antigo e a Idade do Ferro. De facto, o projeto visava um amplo quadro cronológico e a metodologia proposta implicava a cobertura total do território do Concelho de Arraiolos, assim como o registo de todo o tipo de evidências arqueológicas, o que nos possibilitou conhecer e interpretar as estratégias de povoamento. Apresenta-se aqui um resumo destes novos sítios, como contributo para o conhecimento do povoamento pré-histórico desta área

Identification of robust strain designs via tandem pFBA/LMOMA phenotype prediction

The past two decades have witnessed great advances in the computational modeling and systems biology fields. Soon after the first models of metabolism were developed, methods for phenotype prediction were put forward, as well as strain optimization methods, within the field of Metabolic Engineering. Evolutionary computation has been on the front line, with the proposal of bilevel metaheuristics, where EC works over phenotype simulation, selecting the most promising solutions for bioengineering tasks. Recently, Schuetz and co-workers proposed that the metabolism of bacteria operates close to the Pareto-optimal surface of a three-dimensional space defined by competing objectives. Albeit multi-objective strain optimization approaches focused on bioengineering objectives have been proposed, none tackles the multiobjective nature of the cellular objectives. In this work, we propose multi-objective evolutionary algorithms for strain optimization, where objective functions are defined based on distinct phenotype prediction methods, showing that those can lead to more robust designs, allowing to find solutions in more complex scenarios.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Relatório final de estágio realizado na Escola Básica e Secundária de Carcavelos

Este relatório final tem como principal objetivo a análise e reflexão de todo o percurso realizado durante o estágio Pedagógico, no âmbito do Mestrado em Ensino da Educação Física nos Ensinos Básico e Secundário na Faculdade de Motricidade Humana. Deste modo, são apresentados os processos de aprendizagem realizados durante todo o percurso, designadamente a avaliação inicial, a conceção da intervenção, bem como algumas reflexões sobre as propostas e estratégias pedagógicas utilizadas, de acordo com as fragilidades e potencialidades dos alunos de uma turma de 8.º ano do 3.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico (CEB) e ainda a avaliação dos resultados dos alunos e do plano anual de turma. Assim, a principal finalidade formativa deste processo, é, de uma forma refletida e crítica, demonstrar todo o percurso realizado em todas as áreas de aprendizagem: Organização e Gestão do Ensino e da Aprendizagem (Área 1), Inovação e Investigação Pedagógica (Área 2), Participação na Escola (Área 3) e Relação com a Comunidade (Área 4).This final report has as a main objective the analysis and reflection of the whole course carried out during the Pedagogical stage, within the scope of the Masters in Teaching Physical Education in Basic and Secondary Education in the Faculty of Human Motricity. In this way, all the learning processes carried out during the whole course are presented, namely the initial evaluation, the design of the intervention, as well as some reflections on the pedagogical proposals and strategies used, according to the weaknesses and potentialities of the students of a class of the 8th year of the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education (CEB) and also the evaluation of the results of the students and of the annual plan. Thus, the main purpose of this process is, in a reflexive and critical way, to demonstrate the entire course in all areas of learning: Organization and Management of Teaching and Learning (Area 1), Innovation and Pedagogical Research (Area 2), Participation in the School (Area 3) and Relationship with the Community (Area 4)