Interacção multimodal : contribuições para simplificar o desenvolvimento de aplicações

Doutoramento em Engenharia InformáticaA forma como interagimos com os dispositivos que nos rodeiam, no nosso diaa- dia, está a mudar constantemente, consequência do aparecimento de novas tecnologias e métodos que proporcionam melhores e mais aliciantes formas de interagir com as aplicações. No entanto, a integração destas tecnologias, para possibilitar a sua utilização alargada, coloca desafios significativos e requer, da parte de quem desenvolve, um conhecimento alargado das tecnologias envolvidas. Apesar de a literatura mais recente apresentar alguns avanços no suporte ao desenho e desenvolvimento de sistemas interactivos multimodais, vários aspectos chave têm ainda de ser resolvidos para que se atinja o seu real potencial. Entre estes aspectos, um exemplo relevante é o da dificuldade em desenvolver e integrar múltiplas modalidades de interacção. Neste trabalho, propomos, desenhamos e implementamos uma framework que permite um mais fácil desenvolvimento de interacção multimodal. A nossa proposta mantém as modalidades de interacção completamente separadas da aplicação, permitindo um desenvolvimento, independente de cada uma das partes. A framework proposta já inclui um conjunto de modalidades genéricas e módulos que podem ser usados em novas aplicações. De entre as modalidades genéricas, a modalidade de voz mereceu particular atenção, tendo em conta a relevância crescente da interacção por voz, por exemplo em cenários como AAL, e a complexidade associada ao seu desenvolvimento. Adicionalmente, a nossa proposta contempla ainda o suporte à gestão de aplicações multi-dispositivo e inclui um método e respectivo módulo para criar fusão entre eventos. O desenvolvimento da arquitectura e da framework ocorreu num contexto de I&D diversificado, incluindo vários projectos, cenários de aplicação e parceiros internacionais. A framework permitiu o desenho e desenvolvimento de um conjunto alargado de aplicações multimodais, sendo um exemplo digno de nota o assistente pessoal AALFred, do projecto PaeLife. Estas aplicações, por sua vez, serviram um contínuo melhoramento da framework, suportando a recolha iterativa de novos requisitos, e permitido demonstrar a sua versatilidade e capacidades.The way we interact with the devices around us, in everyday life, is constantly changing, boosted by emerging technologies and methods, providing better and more engaging ways to interact with applications. Nevertheless, the integration with these technologies, to enable their widespread use in current systems, presents a notable challenge and requires considerable knowhow from developers. While the recent literature has made some advances in supporting the design and development of multimodal interactive systems, several key aspects have yet to be addressed to enable its full potential. Among these, a relevant example is the difficulty to develop and integrate multiple interaction modalities. In this work, we propose, design and implement a framework enabling easier development of multimodal interaction. Our proposal fully decouples the interaction modalities from the application, allowing the separate development of each part. The proposed framework already includes a set of generic modalities and modules ready to be used in novel applications. Among the proposed generic modalities, the speech modality deserved particular attention, attending to the increasing relevance of speech interaction, for example in scenarios such as AAL, and the complexity behind its development. Additionally, our proposal also tackles the support for managing multi-device applications and includes a method and corresponding module to create fusion of events. The development of the architecture and framework profited from a rich R&D context including several projects, scenarios, and international partners. The framework successfully supported the design and development of a wide set of multimodal applications, a notable example being AALFred, the personal assistant of project PaeLife. These applications, in turn, served the continuous improvement of the framework by supporting the iterative collection of novel requirements, enabling the proposed framework to show its versatility and potential

Water Quality And Zooplankton Composition In Fishponds (Castanhal, Pará).

Viveiros de piscicultura como sistemas artificiais rasos sofrem influência externa e interna que vão atuar na comunidade planctônica e na qualidade da água. Neste sentido, o trabalho foi desenvolvido em seis viveiros e teve como objetivos: listar as espécies de zooplâncton, aplicar métodos quantitativos, calculando densidade, abundância relativa, riqueza, diversidade e equitabilidade entre os organismos registrados e avaliar a qualidade da água. Amostragens para determinação qualitativa e quantitativa do zooplâncton, além de análises de temperatura, oxigênio dissolvido, pH, condutividade elétrica e sólidos totais dissolvidos foram efetuadas. As médias de OD estiveram acima de 6,0 mg/l e o pH variou de básico a ligeiramente ácido. A condutividade variou de 8,5 a 25,3µS/cm. Foram identificados 80 taxa, sendo 60 de Rotifera, três de Protista e 17 de Artrhopoda. Em termos de densidade, a estação 06 se destacou, sendo Rotifera o grupo dominante, com pico em janeiro, 2.374,5org/l. Em termos de freqüência de ocorrência, as formas naupliares se destacaram entre os copepodes, Cyclestheria hislopi e Alona poppei entre os cladóceros e Keratella americana e Trichocerca pusilla entre os rotíferos. A estação 01 teve os maiores valores de diversidade e equitabilidade, demonstrando maior uniformidade de espécies. Neste estudo, as variáveis abióticas não variaram significativamente e estavam dentro da faixa recomendada para o cultivo, exceto a condutividade. A maior riqueza de espécies e dominância de rotíferos permitiu considerá-los como o grupo mais importante da Estação. Copépodos e cladóceros, por serem maiores, provavelmente estiveram mais sujeitos à predação visual por peixes.Fishponds as flat artificial systems suffer external and internal influence that go to act in the planktonic community and the factors physicist-chemistries of the water. In this direction, the paper was developed in six ponds and had as objective: to list the zooplanktonic species, to apply quantitative methods, calculating density, relative abundance, wealth, diversity and equitability between the registered organisms and to evaluate the water quality based on the parameters physicist-chemists. Samplings for qualitative and quantitative determination of zooplankton, beyond analyses of temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, electric conductivity and dissolved total solids had been effected. The dissolved oxygen averages had been above of 6,0mg/l and pH varied of basic the slightly acid one. The conductivity varied of 8,5 the 25,3µS/cm. Had been identified 80 tax, being 60 of Rotifer, three of Protozoa and 17 of Artrhopoda. In density terms, station 06 if detached, being Rotifera the dominant group, with peak in january, 2374.5org/l. In terms of occurrence frequency, the naupliar forms if had detached among copepodes, Cyclestheria hislopi and Alona poppei between the cladocera and Keratella americana e Trichocerca pusilla between the rotifers. Station 01 had the biggest values of diversity and equitabilidity, demonstrating bigger uniformity of species. In this study, the abiotic variable had not varied significantly and were inside of the band recommended for the culture, except the conductivity. The biggest wealth of species and dominance of rotifers allowed to consider them as the group most important of the Station. Copepods and cladocers, for being bigger, had probably been citizens to the visual prerestitution for fish

Origem fitogeográfica de feijões da Madeira com base em perfis de faseolina

The objective of this work was to determine the geographic origin of the Madeiran common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) gene pool. Phaseolin patterns of 50 accessions representing the diversity of common bean collected in Madeira, Portugal, and conserved in the ISOPlexis Germplasm Bank, were analysed using the Experion automated electrophoresis system, based on lab-on-a-chip technology. Five common bean standard varieties with typical phaseolin patterns were used to determine the phytogeographical origin of the Madeiran common bean accessions. Ninety two percent of the accessions exhibited a phaseolin pattern consistent with the one of common bean types belonging to the Andean gene pool, while the origin of the remaining 8% of the accessions was indistinguishable. The application of a similarity coefficient of 85%, based on Pearson correlations, increases the number of accessions with uncertain pattern. The analytical approach used permitted the determination of the origin of the common bean gene pool, which is Andean in 98% of the cases, and clustering of the observed variability among the Madeiran common beans.O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar a origem geográfica do "pool" genético do feijoeiro-comum (Phaseolus vulgaris) da ilha da Madeira, Portugal. Os perfis de faseolinas de 50 acessos que representam a diversidade do feijoeiro-comum coletados na ilha da Madeira, conservados no banco de germoplasma ISOPlexis, foram analisados por meio do sistema de eletroforese automática Experion, baseado na tecnologia "lab-on-a-chip". Cinco variedades padrão de feijoeiro, com perfis típicos de faseolina, foram usadas para determinar a origem fitogeográfica dos acessos de feijoeiro-comum da ilha da Madeira. Noventa e dois por cento dos acessos exibiram um perfil consistente com o dos tipos pertencentes ao "pool" genético Andino, enquanto não foi possível determinar a origem de 8% dos acessos restantes. A aplicação de um coeficiente de similaridade de 85%, com base em correlações de Pearson, aumentou o número de acessos com perfil incerto. A abordagem analítica utilizada permitiu determinar a origem andina do "pool" genético em 98% dos casos, e o agrupamento da variabilidade observada entre os feijões da Madeira

Hydraulic and water quality modelling of urban drainage systems

As inundações urbanas estão se tornando cada vez mais frequentes, de tal forma que a União Europeia publicou a Diretiva 2007/60/CE no sentido de mitigar as consequências relacionadas com este fenômeno e de impor limites à concentração de poluentes nas águas pluviais. O objetivo deste artigo foi apresentar uma modelação dos sistemas de drenagem em situação de inundações, baseada no software da United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), em que o estudo de caso é analisar um sistema de drenagem urbana unitário, inserido na Zona Central de Coimbra, em Portugal. Recorrendo à metodologia Automatic Overland Flow Delineation (AOFD) para a geração de uma rede de drenagem superficial e implementando-a no SWMM, obteve-se um modelo de drenagem dual, que permite a análise do escoamento em situação de inundações, incluindo o controle de escoamento entre a superfície e a rede de coletores e a modelação da qualidade da água à superfície. Este modelo permite quantificar a carga poluente à superfície, relativamente ao parâmetro de sólidos suspensos totais, para um evento de precipitação extrema.Urban floods are becoming more frequent. Thus, the European Union published the Directive 2007/60/CE to mitigate costs related with this phenomenon and to impose limits on the concentration of pollutants in pluvial water. The purpose of this study was to present the modelling of drainage systems in flood situations, based on the software of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), in which the study case is to analyze a unitary urban drainage system of Zona Central catchment in Coimbra, Portugal. By using the Automatic Overland Flow Delineation (AOFD) methodology for the generation of a superficial drainage network and implementing it in the SWMM, it was obtained a dual drainage model that allows the flow analysis in flood conditions, including flow control between the surface and collectors network and also modeling of water quality at the surface. This model allows quantifying the pollution load at the surface, relatively to the parameter of total suspended solids, for any extreme rainfall event

Menthol and eugenol as natural anesthetics for early juveniles of curimba

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate menthol and eugenol as anesthetics for early juveniles of curimba, Prochilodus lineatus. Juveniles of 4.0±0.5 g and a total length of 8.8±0.1 cm were exposed to the anesthetics menthol (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 mg L−1) and eugenol (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 mg L−1) up to deep anesthesia. The anesthetic effects were evaluated measuring the induction time to deep anesthesia (characterized by loss of equilibrium, absence of swimming, reduction of opercular movements, and responses only to intense tactile stimuli), recovery time, time to appetite return, and mortality rate after 96 h of procedure. The concentrations between 60 to 80 mg of menthol L−1 provided the lowest time of induction. Increased concentrations led to a decrease in recuperation time. The concentrations between 50 to 70 mg of eugenol L−1 provided the lowest induction times; however, recovery time was not affected by eugenol concentrations. The return to appetite was observed 24 h after anesthesia, while the survival after 96 h was >90%. Concentrations of 60 and 50 mg L−1 of menthol and eugenol, respectively, are recommended for effective anesthesia with limited side effects

First occurrence of Dolicholagus longirostris larvae (Maul 1948) (Osmeriformes, Bathylagidae) near the mouth of the Amazon River

The family Bathylagidae contains eight genera and 22 species, of which only five occur in the Southwest Atlantic. Until recently, only adult specimens of the bathylaginin Melanolagus bericoides had been recorded off southern Brazil, between the Santa Marta Cape and Rio Grande (31° S and 49° W). The present work reports the first occurrence of Dolicholagus longirostris larvae on the northern Brazilian coast, expanding its distribution in the Southwest Atlantic. The two specimens found were collected near the mouth of the Amazon River (02° 00' 19" N, 47° 03' 30" W, and 00° 49' 06" N, 46° 25' 09" W)

Residue from Açai Palm, <i>Euterpe oleracea</i><i>,</i> as Substrate for Cilantro, <i>Coriandrum sativum</i>, Seedling Production in an Aquaponic System with Tambaqui, <i>Colossoma macropomum</i>

The production of high-quality seedlings is important to achieve better productivity in horticulture. Despite being well developed in conventional agriculture, there are few studies on aquaponic systems. The substrate choice in this integrated culture affects plant and economic feasibility. This study verified the effects of using Euterpe oleracea residue as a substrate for Coriandrum sativum seedling production in an aquaponic system with tambaqui, Colossoma macropomum. Five mixtures of Euterpe oleracea offal (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) with coconut fiber, nourished by aquaponic wastewater, were evaluated. Water quality, fish and plant performance were analyzed during an 18-day experiment. Although total ammonia decreased from 5.17 mg L−1 to 0.64 mg L−1, nitrite and nitrate did not exceed 1 mg L−1 and 3 mg L−1, respectively. C. macropomum mean weight gain was 118.79 g and achieved high food assimilation, with a 0.86 feed conversion rate. Mean blood hematocrit (30.20 ± 5.99%) and glucose (59.5 ± 10.06 mg dL−1) indicates good physiological status of the C. macropomum. The use of the Euterpe oleracea offal mixture at 50% decreased by half the total fresh mass of Coriandrum sativum, down to 1.12 ± 0.30 g, but did not decrease dry mass (p > 0.05). When the mixture was above 25%, plant and leaf length were 8 cm and 3 cm smaller, respectively, and the number of leaves and stem base diameter were reduced by 34% and 40%, respectively. We do not recommend using more than 25% of Euterpe oleracea offal with coconut fiber for Coriandrum sativum seedling production in an aquaponic system

Evaluation of Training with Elastic Bands on Strength and Fatigue Indicators in Paralympic Powerlifting

Background: Variable resistance training has recently become a component of strength and conditioning programs. Objective: This randomized counterbalanced cross-over study aimed to investigate the use of elastic bands (EB) and the traditional method (TRAD) and force indicators in a training session. Methods: 12 Paralympic athletes (age: 28.60 ± 7.60 years) participated in this three-week study. In the first week, the participants were familiarized with EB and TRAD and were tested for maximal repetition (1-RM). The research occurred in weeks 2 and 3, which included the pre-post training, during which the following measures were extracted: maximum isometric force (MIF), the peak torque (PT), rate of force development (RFD), fatigue index (FI), and time to MIF (Time). The athletes performed two tests, EB and TRAD, separated by a one-week interval. Results: Significant differences were found between the pre- and post-test for 1RM (p = 0.018, η2p = 0.412), MIF (p = 0.011, η2p = 0.415), PT (p = 0.012, η2p = 0.413), and RFD (p = 0.0002, η2p = 0.761). With the use of EB, there was a difference in RFD between TRAD before and EB after (p = 0.016, η2p = 0.761). There were significant differences in the before and after for FI between TRAD and EB (p < 0.001) and for Time (p < 0.001), indicating that training with the use of elastic bands promotes overload, characterized by increased fatigue and decreased strength. Conclusions: Training with EB did not decrease 1RM, PT, MIF or RFD, however, there was an increase in fatigue and time to reach MIF when compared to the method with fixed resistance