Signals of Opportunity for Positioning Purposes

O ver the last years, location-based services (LBS) have become popular due to the emergence of smartphones with capabilities of positioning their user’s location on Earth at unprecedented speed and convenience. Behind such feat are the technological advances in global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), such as Galileo, Globalnaya Navigazionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS), Global Positioning Service (GPS) and Beidou. The easiness of smartphones and the improvement of positioning technology has driven LBS to be at the core of many business models. Some of these business models rely on the user’s location to pick him up on a car, relinquish a meal to him, offer insights on sports performance, locate items to be picked up on a warehouse, among many others.While LBS are driving the need to continuously locate the user at higher degrees of accuracy and across any environment, be it in a city park, an urban canyon or inside a corporate office, some of these environments pose a challenge for GNSS. Indoor environments are particularly challenging for GNSS due to the attenuation and strong multipath imposed by walls and building materials. Such challenges and difficulties in signal acquisition have led to the development of solutions and technologies to improve positioning in indoor environments.While there are several commercial systems available to fulfill the needs of most LBS in indoor environments, most of these are not feasible to deploy at a global scale due to their infrastructure costs. Hence, several solutions have sought to build upon existing infrastructure to provide positioning information.Building upon existing infrastructure is what leads to the main topic of this thesis, the concept of signals of opportunity (SoO). A SoO is any wireless signal that can be exploited for a positioning purpose despite its initial design seeking to fulfill a different purpose. A few examples of these signals are IEEE 802.11 signals, commonly known as WiFi, Bluetooth, digital video broadcasting - terrestrial (DVB-T) and many of the cellular signals, such as long-term evolution (LTE), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) and global mobile system (GSM).The goal of this thesis is to address various challenges related to SoO for positioning. From the identification of SoO at the physical layer, how to merge them at the algorithmic level and how to put them in use for a cognitive positioning system (CPS)

Overview of positioning technologies from fitness-to-purpose point of view

Even though Location Based Services (LBSs) are being more and more widely-used and this shows a promising future, there are still many challenges to deal with, such as privacy, reliability, accuracy, cost of service, power consumption and availability. There is still no single low-cost positioning technology which provides position of its users seamlessly indoors and outdoors with an acceptable level of accuracy and low power consumption. For this reason, fitness of positioning service to the purpose of LBS application is an important parameter to be considered when choosing the most suitable positioning technology for an LBS. This should be done for any LBS application, since each application may need different requirements. Some location-based applications, such as location-based advertisements or Location-Based Social Networking (LBSN), do not need very accurate positioning input data, while for some others, e.g. navigation and tracking services, highly-accurate positioning is essential. This paper evaluates different positioning technologies from fitness-to-purpose point of view for two different applications, public transport information and family/friend tracking

On the impact of intra-system interference for ranging and positioning with Bluetooth low energy

This paper focuses on the study of intra-system interference for ranging and positioning applications using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). While BLE tries to avoid interference with other protocols in the same frequency band, such as Wi-Fi, the intra-system interference is unavoidable, either due to multipath or simultaneous transmissions in the same channel. This study shows that intra-system interference contributes with a deviation of approximately 5 dBm in the Received Signal Strength (RSS) and by taking this into account the ranging and positioning accuracy can be significantly improved. The study uses data collected from two different environments

Indoor positioning technology assessment using analytic hierarchy process for pedestrian navigation services

Indoor positioning is one of the biggest challenges of many Location Based Services (LBS), especially if the target users are pedestrians, who spend most of their time in roofed areas such as houses, offices, airports, shopping centres and in general indoors. Providing pedestrians with accurate, reliable, cheap, low power consuming and continuously available positional data inside the buildings (i.e. indoors) where GNSS signals are not usually available is difficult. Several positioning technologies can be applied as stand-alone indoor positioning technologies. They include Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Tactile Floor (TF), Ultra Sound (US) and High Sensitivity GNSS (HSGNSS). This paper evaluates the practicality and fitness-to-the-purpose of pedestrian navigation for these stand-alone positioning technologies to identify the best one for the purpose of indoor pedestrian navigation. In this regard, the most important criteria defining a suitable positioning service for pedestrian navigation are identified and prioritised. They include accuracy, availability, cost, power consumption and privacy. Each technology is evaluated according to each criterion using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and finally the combination of all weighted criteria and technologies are processed to identify the most suitable solution

Effect of vineyard characteristics on the functional diversity of insectivorous birds as indicator of potential biocontrol services

Insectivorous birds have a large potential to provide biocontrol services in vineyards, thus contributing to the sustainability of this agroecosystem. Bird communities are influenced by vineyard management practices and surrounding landscape, which may influence their role as ecosystem service providers. Functional diversity indices are indicators of bird community composition, and thus may reflect potential biocontrol services. We surveyed 31 vineyard plots in southern Portugal to assess vineyard characteristics (management intensity and landscape context) that may influence functional insectivorous birds in vineyards, using seven functional diversity indices as potential biocontrol indicators. We used eight characteristics of vineyard plots to define three vineyard types for our case-study: TREE – smaller vineyard plots surround by a more diverse landscape, with larger proportion of tree-habitats; AGRI – vineyard plots with medium size and greater cover by herbaceous vegetation, mostly surrounded by agricultural habitats (pastureland, crops); and VINE – vineyard plots of larger size and higher inter-row herbaceous vegetation, often surrounded by other vineyard plots. Five potential biocontrol indicators seemed to vary according to vineyard type. The richness of functional insectivorous birds, functional dispersion, functional richness, and Rao’s functional diversity were all higher in vineyard TREE type compared to both AGRI and VINE types. The functional divergence was higher in vineyard TREE type than in VINE type, but similar to AGRI type. Accordingly, TREE type vineyards hold bird communities with more diverse and widespread ecological functions. This implies that smaller vineyard plots, in more heterogeneous landscapes, with neighbouring woodlands seem to have a higher potential of biocontrol services provided by insectivorous birds as suggested by using functional diversity indices as indicators

ESPAÇO COMO ELEMENTO NO CONTEXTO DA NARRATIVA FÍLMICA

Este trabalho estabelece uma mediação entre os conceitos da geografia e temas que contemplam o cinema brasileiro contemporâneo. Pretende-se discorrer sobre o significado de espaço e o seu papel na construção da narrativa fílmica usando por base a representação do sertão nordestino. O cenário posto aqui é a relação cinemática entre o realismo sensorial, trabalhado pelo diretor Karim Aïnouz em seu filme O Céu de Suely (2006), e o sertão, o qual reflete aspectos conciliativos entre a modernização e a globalização do espaço urbano sertanejo, associado ao sentimento nômade de não pertencimento

Enhanced dietary formulation to mitigate winter thermal stress in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata): a 2D-DIGE plasma proteome study

Low water temperatures during winter are common in farming of gilthead sea bream in the Mediterranean. This causes metabolic disorders that in extreme cases can lead to a syndrome called "winter disease." An improved immunostimulatory nutritional status might mitigate the effects of this thermal metabolic stress. A trial was set up to assess the effects of two different diets on gilthead sea bream physiology and nutritional state through plasma proteome and metabolites. Four groups of 25 adult gilthead sea bream were reared during winter months, being fed either with a control diet (CTRL) or with a diet called "winter feed" (WF). Proteome results show a slightly higher number of proteins upregulated in plasma of fish fed the WF. These proteins are mostly involved in the immune system and cell protection mechanisms. Lipid metabolism was also affected, as shown both by plasma proteome and by the cholesterol plasma levels. Overall, the winter feed diet tested seems to have positive effects in terms of fish condition and nutritional status, reducing the metabolic effects of thermal stress

Intoxicação espontânea por Palicourea marcgravii em bovino no Distrito Federal, Brasil

Palicourea marcgravii is considered the most important toxic plant in Brazil and, until the 1990s, the most important plant in the Central-Western. This factor is explained due to its extensive distribution, good palatability, high toxicity and cumulative effect. A bovine, Nelore, male, two years old, of a property in the Federal District, was found dead. The property presented history of access to the forest and death of other cattle. No macroscopic changes were observed. Microscopically, in the kidneys, were observed hydropic-vacuolar degeneration of distal contoured urinary tubule epithelial cells. Multifocal areas of cardiomyocytes with coagulation necrosis were noted in the heart presenting pycnotic nuclei with hypereosinophilic cytoplasm and loss of striations. During a visit to the rural property, were found branches and shrubs with fruits recognized as P. marcgravii. This report presents the pathological findings of spontaneous poisoning by P. marcgravii in bovine in the Federal District, Brazil.Palicourea marcgravii é considerada a planta tóxica mais importante do Brasil e, até os anos 90, a planta mais importante do Centro-Oeste. Esse fator é explicado devido à sua extensa distribuição, boa palatabilidade, alta toxicidade e efeito cumulativo. Um bovino, Nelore, macho, dois anos, de uma propriedade no Distrito Federal, foi encontrado morto. A propriedade apresentava histórico de acesso à floresta e morte de outros animais. Não foram observadas alterações macroscópicas. Microscopicamente, nos rins, foi observada degeneração hidrópico-vacuolar das células epiteliais do túbulo contorcido distal urinário. Áreas multifocais de cardiomiócitos com necrose de coagulação foram observadas no coração, apresentando núcleos picnóticos com citoplasma hipereosinofílico e perda de estriação. Durante uma visita à propriedade rural, foram encontrados galhos e arbustos com frutos reconhecidos como P. marcgravi. Este relato apresenta os achados patológicos de intoxicação espontânea por P. marcgravii em bovino no Distrito Federal

Mancha-foliar-de-Phaeosphaeria (mancha-branca-do-milho): fungo ou bactéria?

Diferentes espécies de fungos e a bactéria Pantoea ananatis (Pa) foram relatados como agentes etiológicos da doença mancha-de-Phaeosphaeria (MF) do milho. Este trabalho teve como objetivo a identificação molecular de fungos e bactérias que ocorrem em MF e sua etiologia. Os DNAs genômicos de 1) amostras de cada um dos quatro estágios das lesões MF; 2 ) bactérias e fungos isolados de lesões naturais (NPLS) e lesões artificial (AI), e 3) fungos isolados de lesões obtidas a partir de plantas inoculadas com Pa em casa de vegetação (GH) foram utilizados em reações de PCR com primers universais para genes rRNA de bactérias e fungos, e primers espécie específicos para Pa. Amplicons bacterianos foram observados em todas as fases das lesões e amplicons fúngicos foram observados nos estádios 3 e 4. Amplicons bacterianos de amostras NPLS eram de Pa enquanto amplicons fúngicos foram de Phaeosphaeria sp. e Phoma sp. Bactérias nas NPLS, GH e lesões AI foram identificadas como Pa, Pa e Bacillus subtilis, respectivamente, enquanto os fungos foram Epicoccum nigrum, Leptosphaeria sacchari, Cochliobolus geniculatus, Pithomyces chartarum, Alternaria alternata, A. ricini, Gibberella intricans, G. fujikuroi, Phaeosphaeria sp. , P. avenaria, Phoma sp., Phyllosticta sp., Sarocladium strictum, Glomerella graminicola e Cochliobolus heterostrophus. Os resultados indicam fortemente que Pa é o agente causador da doença PLS do milho e que diferentes espécies de fungos oportunistas só aparecem no final das fases de necrose de lesões causadas por Pa.bitstream/item/97961/1/bol-79.pd