Back to the same place of holidays.An analysis of European tourists’preferences towards cultural tourism

Cultural tourism remains one of European tourists’ main preference for travelling inside Europe(Kozak, 2002; Chaldler& Costello, 2012).Travel has long been associated with cultural standards and levels, because a visitor who is motivated to explore, discover and learn about the attractions of a country or region exert an incalculable personal, social and professional investment. Although several studies have been conducted revisit intentions to sun and sand destinations (among others, Correia& Zins, 2015). Thus, limited focus has been given to investigating return reasons based on cultural tourism preferences (Kastenholz et al, 2013). This study aims to identify the preferences of Europeans in their demand for cultural tourism in terms of revisit the previous place of holidays. Previous studies revealed that tourist preferences are associated with destinationattributes, past visitsand intention to revisit (Woodside &Lysonski, 1989,Decrop&Snelders, 2005;Li & Hudson, 2016). The attributes that explain the preferences of Europeans when intending to revisit the same place of holidays for cultural reasons will be identified. Findings are expected to provide European National Tourism Organisations and practitioners an amount of rich insights concerning the identification of return reasons towards cultural tourism preferences.Interdisciplinary Centre for History, Cultures and Societies (CIDEHUS) Universityof Évora, Portuga

Interface Homem-Máquina Multi Robótica em Unity3D

More than ever the use of autonomous vehicles to accomplish objectives deemed too dangerous or even impossible by human standards is increasing. This demand puts to the test our capabilities for managing teams of multiple robots and creating intuitive interactions with these teams is a must. Creating means to abstract and condense the information that reaches the end user into a single kit of software would improve its manageability considerably. The development of a centralized graphical user interface is proposed to alleviate the workload of the human operator. This interface is thought out to be simple in delivering its information taking cues from video games, a well known industry in studying the theory behind the creation of user interfaces. Sensorial information is abstracted in a graphical perspective much like the attributes of a character inside a video game. The Unity game engine was used to implement such an interface, integrating ROS with a layer of DDS to manage the communications while providing QoS settings. The DDS solves the problem of multiple ROS masters by setting up a separate network where users can connect and disconnect seamlessly from the network, without the need to restart roscore on each machine. Interactions between these two software is made by using websockets on a local network. Visual representations of the sensors onboard the autonomous vehicles transform the huge stream of data into human understandable formats for immediate response by the operator. Dynamic generation of terrain was accomplished by the use of LiDAR and side-scan sensors, if available, to map the surroundings, while Mapbox provided prefetched terrain data from OpenStreetMaps.Mais do que nunca, o uso de veículos autónomos para cumprir objectivos considerados demasiado perigosos ou até mesmo impossíveis segundo os padrões humanos tem vindo a aumentar. Este requerimento testa as nossas capacidades de gestão de equipas de múltiplos robôs e torna a criação de interações intuitivas com estas equipas numa necessidade. Criar meios de abstrair e condensar a informação que chega ao utilizador final num só pacote de software iria melhorar a sua gestão consideravelmente. O desenvolvimento de uma interface gráfica centralizada é proposta de modo a aliviar a carga de trabalho do operador humano. Esta interface é pensada para transmitir a sua informação como um vídeo jogo, sendo que esta é uma indústria que conhecida pelo seu estudo de interfaces de utilizador. Informação sensorial é abstraída com uma perspectiva gráfica tal como os atributos de uma personagem de um vídeo jogo. O motor de jogo Unity foi o utilizado para implementar tal interface integrando funcionalidades de ROS com uma camada de DDS, responsável pela gestão das comunicações, fornecendo opções de QoS. O DDS resolve o problema de múltiplos ROS master estabelecendo uma rede separada em que os utilizadores podem conectar-se e desconectar-se simultaneamente sem haver a necessidade de reiniciar o roscore em cada máquina. Interações entre os dois software é efetuada através de websockets numa rede local. Representações visuais dos sensores a bordo dos veículos autónomos transformam os enormes fluxos de dados em formatos facilmente compreensíveis por humanos para resposta imediata por parte do operador. Geração dinâmica de ambientes virtuais foi tornado possível com recurso a sensores como LiDAR e side-scan, caso existam, enquanto que API’s como Mapbox e OpenStreetMaps forneceram dados estáticos destes ambientes

Vox Dei:metáfora(s) da espiritualidade

Tese de doutoramento, Belas-Artes (Pintura), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Belas-Artes, 2014Esta tese de Doutoramento em Belas-Artes, especialidade de Pintura, consiste na articulação de uma investigação em duas partes, uma de índole prática e outra teórica. A primeira, relativa à concepção de um corpo de trabalho pictórico inédito, corporiza-se na execução de um conjunto de pinturas, intituladas Vox e Dei, e na idealização de um dispositivo espacial concebido para as receber, intitulado Foi a Luz. As questões de fundo do processo criativo deste trabalho motivam a investigação teórica, desenvolvida em simultâneo. Esta incide sobre a relação entre espiritualidade e arte no contexto cultural ocidental (de matriz judaico-cristã), e sobre a ideia da progressiva autonomização da arte (principalmente desde o século XIX até à actualidade), apresentando-se como realidade espiritual alternativa ao universo religioso. Para tal, abordou-se a forma como três autores - Rui Chafes, Mark Rothko e Andrei Tarkovsky - se incluem perfeitamente dentro dos parâmetros da espiritualidade analisados e que, inclusive, através das suas obras, acrescentam algo à dimensão secular contemporânea de ver e conceber Deus. Ao eleger estes autores, e ao falar deles e da sua obra de forma objectiva, no interior das suas áreas artísticas específicas (nomeadamente da escultura, da pintura e do cinema), consolidaram-se as ferramentas teóricas e discursivas necessárias para analisar em profundidade os resultados pictóricos obtidos na investigação prática.This dissertation thesis for the PhD in Fine-Arts, speciality in Painting, consists of two great investigations, one of a practical nature, the other theoretical. The first, concerning the conception of an original pictorial body of work, is based on the execution of a group of paintings, entitled Vox and Dei, and on the idealization of a spatial device designed to receive them, entitled It Was the Light. Simultaneously, a deep theoretical research was performed, regarding the relationship between spirituality and art in the Western cultural context (of Judeo-Christian matrix), and the notion of progressive autonomization of art (especially from the nineteenth century on) and its constitution as an alternative spiritual reality to the religious universe. For that, the manner in which three authors - Rui Chafes, Mark Rothko and Andrei Tarkovsky - fit perfectly the parameters of spirituality analyzed was brought into account, as well as their contribution, through their works, to the contemporary secular vision and conception of God. By electing these authors, and by speaking objectively of them and their works, within their specific artistic domains (namely sculpture, painting and filmmaking), the theoretical and discursive tools required to analyze in depth the results of the practical investigation were consolidated

Noite incerta o atelier como experiência mítico-simbólica

Every day, when I arrive at my studio, I enter an alternative reality which I named Omphalos or 2070. I experience it as an archaeological site, from which images of a vaguely recognizable future reality sprout. However, this simulacrum contains a whole set of possible discourses on painting, developed by me, as an author, always in the first person.Todos los dias, cuando llego a mi taller, entro en una realidad alternativa a la que llamé Omphalos o 2070. Lo vivo como si hubiera encontrado un lugar arqueológico, del que brotan imágenes de una realidad futura vagamente reconocible. Sin embargo, este simulacro contiene todo un conjunto de posibles sobre pintura, desarrollados por mí, como autor, siempre en primera persona.Todos os dias, quando chego ao meu atelier, entro numa realidade alternativa que denominei Omphalos ou 2070. Vivo-o como se tivesse encontrado um lugar arqueológico, do qual brotam imagens de uma realidade futura vagamente reconhecível. Contudo, este simulacro encerra em si todo um conjunto de possíveis discursos sobre pintura, desenvolvidos por mim, enquanto autor, sempre na primeira pessoa

All-digital time-to-digital converter design methodology based on structured data paths

Time-to-Digital Converters (TDC) are popular circuits in many applications, where high resolution time measurements are required, for example, in Positron Emission Tomography (PET). Besides its resolution, the TDC's linearity is also an important performance indicator, therefore calibration circuits usually play an important role on TDCs architectures. This paper presents an all-digital TDC implemented using Structured Datapath to reduce the need for calibration circuitry and cells custom design, without compromising the TDC's linearity. The proposed design is fully implementable using a Hardware Description Language (HDL) and enables a complete design flow automation, reducing both development time and system's complexity. The TDC is based on a Delay Locked Loop (DLL) paired with a coarse counter to increase measurement range. The proposed architecture and the design approach have proven to be efficient in developing a high resolution TDC with high linearity. The proposed TDC was implemented in TSMC 0.18 μm CMOS technology process achieving a resolution of 180ps, with Differential Non-Linearity (DNL) and Integral Non-Linearity (INL) under 0.6 LSB.FRCT - Fundo Regional para a Ciência e Tecnologia(PDE/BDE/114562/2016

Gray-code TDC with improved linearity and scalability for LiDAR applications

This paper presents a TDC architecture based on a gray code oscillator with improved linearity, for FPGA implementations. The proposed architecture introduces manual routing as a method to improve the TDC linearity and precision, by controlling the gray code oscillator Datapath, which also reduces the need for calibration mechanisms. Furthermore, the proposed manual routing procedure improves the performance homogeneity across multiple TDC channels, enabling the use of the same calibration module across multiple channels, if further improved precision is required. The proposed TDC channel uses only 16 FPGA logic resources (considering the Xilinx 7 series platform), making it suitable for applications where a large number of measurement channels are required. To validate the proposed architecture and routing procedure, two channels were integrated with a coarse counter, a FIFO memory and an AXI interface, to assemble the pulse measurement unit. A comparison between the default routing implementation and the proposed manual routing has been performed, shown an improvement of 27% on the overall TDC single-shot precision. The implemented TDC achieved a 380 ps RMS resolution, a maximum DNL of 0.38 LSB and a peak-to-peak INL of 0.69 LSB, corresponding to a 21.7% and 70.4% improvement, respectively, when compared to the default design approach.FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia(037902

O puzzle do prémio de risco do mercado acionista : uma revisão da literatura com uma aplicação a Portugal

Mestrado em Economia Monetária e FinanceiraEsta dissertação debruça-se sobre o prémio de risco do mercado accionista (Equity Premium Puzzle — EPP): a rendibilidade em excesso das acções face aos activos sem risco é demasiado elevada para os níveis de aversão ao risco e de volatilidade do consumo considerados normais, numa economia sem fricções e com mercados completos. Desde que a temática foi iniciada por Mehra e Prescott [ 1985], diversas soluções foram apontadas, quer com mercados perfeitos e agentes optimizadores, quer com mercados imperfeitos, quer com agentes não inteiramente racionais. De modo a averiguar se o EPP é um fenómeno exclusivo das economias mais avançadas, com mercados de capitais desenvolvidos, testamos para Portugal, se no período 1977-2001 se verificou este puzzle. Os resultados confirmam a existência do puzzle, ainda que o rácio de Sharpe seja baixo.This dissertation analyses the Equity Premium Puzzle — EPP. The puzzle exists because the excess of stock returns over the risk-free rate is larger than can be explained by standard models of rational asset prices in a frictionless economy with complete markets. Since Mehra and Prescott [ 1985] influential study, many authors have attempted to solve this puzzle following different strategies: in a perfect market environment, with imperfect markets and with a behavioral finance framework. I investigate the existence of thispuzzle for Portugal in the period 1977-2001. I find that there is a puzzle even with a low Sharpe ratio.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Technology independent ASIC based time to digital converter

This paper proposes a design methodology for a synthesizable, fully digital TDC architecture. The TDC was implemented using a hardware description language (HDL), which improves portability between platforms and technologies and significantly reduces design time. The proposed design flow is fully automated using TCL scripting and standard CAD tools configuration files. The TDC is based on a Tapped Delay Line architecture and explores the use of Structured Data Path (SDP) as a way to improve the TDL linearity by homogenizing the routing and parasitic capacitances across the multiple TDL’s steps. The studied approach also secures a stable, temperature independent measurement operation. The proposed TDC architecture was fabricated using TSMC 180nm CMOS process technology, with a 50MHz reference clock and a supply voltage of 1.8V. The fabricated TDC achieved an 111ps RMS resolution and a single-shot precision of 54ps (0.48 LSB) and 279ps (2.51 LSB), with and without post-measurement software calibration, respectively. The DNL across the channel is mostly under 0.3 LSB and a maximum of 8 LSB peak-to-peak INL was achieved, when no calibration is applied.- (037902