API para procedimentos de teste em sistemas embutidos

The proposed case study takes a satellite control application as system under test and entails extending a simple simulator for the system component this application interacts with. Atop of these shall be developed test procedures to study whether there are practical limitations of using simple procedures to test complex interactions between the satellite control application and its simulated environment. The objective of the proposed work is to define a test frontend API that enables simple test procedures while providing all the means required to test complex machine-to-machine (M2M) interactions, having the system under test (SUT) hard real-time characteristics.O caso de estudo proposto toma uma aplicação de controlo de um satélite como um sistema a ser testado e implica a extensão de um simulador simples para o componente do sistema com o qual esta aplicação interage. Em cima destes devem ser desenvolvidos procedimentos de teste para estudar se há limitações práticas ao usar procedimentos simples para testar interações complexas entre a aplicação de controlo do satélite e o ambiente simulado. O objetivo do trabalho proposto é definir uma API de teste que possibilite procedimentos de teste simples e forneça todos os meios necessários para testar interações complexas máquina a máquina, tendo o sistema sob teste características de tempo real.Mestrado em Engenharia Eletrónica e Telecomunicaçõe

Extracção automática de tópicos de documentos

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia InformáticaÉ amplamente conhecida a necessidade de se terem palavras-chave ou tópicos associados a documentos. Entende-se por palavras-chave ou por tópico (s) de um documento qualquer palavra ou multipalavra (uma sequência de 2 ou mais palavras) que, tendo um significado mais ou menos preciso, resume em si parte do conteúdo desse documento. Neste trabalho pretendo desenvolver uma nova metodologia que aborda a problemática de extracção de palavras-chave. Para tal, trabalharei a extracção das palavras-chave trabalhando com palavras, multipalavras e prefixos de palavras com comprimentos predefinidos (5 caracteres). A utilização de prefixos permite trabalhar com línguas altamente flexionadas, servindo os prefixos tópico como sinalizadores de toda uma família de palavras e de multipalavras que poderão, nesse caso, ser promovidas a tópicos, sendo a extracção destes prefixos inovadora, relativamente ao estado da arte. A extracção a realizar será baseada em estatística, o que possibilita trabalhar com textos de várias línguas, nomeadamente o Português, o Inglês e o Checo, que foram as línguas utilizadas neste trabalho. Pretendi melhorar os tempos de extracção de tópicos, recorrendo para isso à utilização de Suffix Arrays. Os resultados obtidos foram avaliados por pessoas externas. É feita também uma comparação bastante exaustiva entre 24 métodos de extracção, alguns novos, propostos neste trabalho, outros propostos por outros autores. Com esta dissertação pretendo fornecer uma nova ferramenta a trabalhos posteriores de sumarização de documentos, de Agrupamento ou indexação de documentos, de construção de ontologias

Empirical modeling as an experimental approach to evaluate simultaneous saccharification and wheat straw fermentation for bioethanol production

In simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of lignocellulosic materials, a rapid conversion to ethanol of the produced glucose is expected. The principal benefits are to minimize enzyme sugar inhibition, to improve cellulose conversion rates and to reduce cost compared with separated hydrolysis and fermentation, due to the occurring synergy between enzyme-yeast-substrate in one bioreactor. Wheat straw (WS) is an abundant by-product from worldwide wheat production making it an important substrate for bioethanol production. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of temperature, substrate concentration and loading enzyme on bioethanol production by SSF having as substrate WS pretreated by autohydrolysis (AH) and using flocculating Saccharomyces cerevisiae CA11. A 23 central composite design was applied and the limits of the different parameters were: 30-45ºC; 2-3 % of substrate; 5-30 FPU of cellulose enzyme (Celluclast 1.5) per g dry substrate and 30-60 of β-glucosidase (Novozym 188) IU per g substrate. Ethanol production, residual glucose, and cellobiose were analyzed by HPLC. CO2 was kinetically monitored by weight loss in Erlenmeyer flasks. Results showed that after 60 h of fermentation the highest ethanol concentration – 14.84 g/l (with a corresponding CO2 value of 14.27 g/l) was obtained at 45ºC, 3% of substrate, 30 FPU and 60 IU. This value, corresponding to an ethanol yield of 84.2%, shows a low enzyme inhibition during SSF process as the glucose produced by enzymatic hydrolysis is rapidly assimilated for yeast cells. Overall, it may be concluded that WS pretreated by AH is a good substrate for SSF process as high substrate conversion into ethanol can be achieved as a result of the synergy between enzyme-yeast-substrate

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P < 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men

A robot with natural interaction capabilities

This paper describes the architecture and current capabilities of Carl, a prototype of an intelligent service robot, designed having in mind such tasks as serving food in a reception or acting as a host in an organization. The approach that has been followed in the design of Carl is based on an explicit concern with the integration of the major dimensions of intelligence, namely Communication, Action, Reasoning and Learning. The paper focuses on the multi-modal human-robot communication capabilities of Carl, since these have been significantly improved during the last year

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Secretome: A Potential Tool for the Prevention of Muscle Degenerative Changes Associated With Chronic Rotator Cuff Tears

Background: Massive rotator cuff tears (MRCTs) are usually chronic lesions with pronounced degenerative changes, where advanced fatty degeneration and atrophy can make the tear irreparable. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) secrete a range of growth factors and vesicular systems, known as secretome, that mediates regenerative processes in tissues undergoing degeneration. Purpose: To study the effect of hMSC secretome on muscular degenerative changes and shoulder function on a rat MRCT model. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: A bilateral 2-tendon (supraspinatus and infraspinatus) section was performed to create an MRCT in a rat model. Forty-four Wistar-Han rats were randomly assigned to 6 groups: control group (sham surgery), lesion control group (MRCT), and 4 treated-lesion groups according to the site and periodicity of hMSC secretome injection: single local injection, multiple local injections, single systemic injection, and multiple systemic injections. Forelimb function was analyzed with the staircase test. Atrophy and fatty degeneration of the muscle were evaluated at 8 and 16 weeks after injury. A proteomic analysis was conducted to identify the molecules present in the hMSC secretome that can be associated with muscular degeneration prevention. Results: When untreated for 8 weeks, the MRCT rats exhibited a significantly higher fat content (0.73% 0.19%) compared with rats treated with a single local injection (0.21% 0.04%; P < .01) or multiple systemic injections (0.25% +/- 0.10%; P < .05) of hMSC secretome. At 16 weeks after injury, a protective effect of the secretome in the multiple systemic injections (0.62% +/- 0.14%; P < .001), single local injection (0.76% +/- 0.17%; P < .001), and multiple local injections (1.35% +/- 0.21%; P < .05) was observed when compared with the untreated MRCT group (2.51% +/- 0.42%). Regarding muscle atrophy, 8 weeks after injury, only the single local injection group (0.0993% +/- 0.0036%) presented a significantly higher muscle mass than that of the untreated MRCT group (0.0794% +/- 0.0047%; P < .05). Finally, the proteomic analysis revealed the presence of important proteins with muscle regeneration, namely, pigment epithelium-derived factor and follistatin. Conclusion: The study data suggest that hMSC secretome effectively decreases the fatty degeneration and atrophy of the rotator cuff muscles. Clinical Relevance: We describe a new approach for decreasing the characteristic muscle degeneration associated with chronic rotator cuff tears. This strategy is particularly important for patients whose tendon healing after later surgical repair could be compromised by the progressing degenerative changes. In addition, both precise intramuscular local injection and multiple systemic secretome injections have been shown to be promising delivery forms for preventing muscle degeneration.This work is a result of the project (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013), supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020) under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); Cofinanciado pelo Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON. 2 SR&TD Integrated Program - NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000021), ao abrigo do Quadro de Referencia Estrategico Nacional (QREN), atraves do Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER); Projeto Projeto Estrategico - LA 26 -2011-2012 and Projeto Estrategico - LA 26 - 2013-2014 cofinanciado por fundos nacionais, atraves da Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (PEst-C/SAU/LA0026/2011; PEst-C/SAU/LA0026/2013), e pelo Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), atraves do COMPETE (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-022724; FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-037298).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio