The MARES AUV, a Modular Autonomous Robot for Environment Sampling

In this paper, we discuss the design aspects and the development of the MARES AUV, a 1.5m long vehicle, weighting 32kg, designed and built at the University of Porto, Portugal. This vehicle is highly maneuverable, with the ability to move in the vertical plane, controlling pitch and vertical velocity; forward velocity can also be determined, anywhere between 0 and 2 m/s. MARES can easily integrate any new payload within reason, finding applications in a wide range or areas, such as pollution monitoring, scientific data collection, sonar mapping, underwater video or mine countermeasures

From algebras to objects : generation and composition

This paper addresses objectification, a formal specification technique which inspects the potential for object-orientation of a declarative model and brings the 'implicit objects' explicit. Criteria for such objectification are formalized and implemented in a runnable prototype tool which embeds Vdm-sl into Vdm++. The paper also includes a quick presentation of a (coinductive) calculus of such generated objects, framed as generalised Moore machines.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Local mixed companies: the theory and practice in an international perspective

Several factors have been contributing to the growing use of public private-partnership (PPP) arrangements by local governments, such as, the need for new investments on infrastructure (e.g. decentralization of responsibilities, regulatory requirements demanding better quality and environmental protection, renovation of the networks), imposition of strict debt limits to the localities, and local government reform policies/programs. Whereas contractual PPP arrangements, such as concession contracts, can be seen as an extension of traditional public procurement (with additional complexities in contract design and management) and are currently better handled by contracting authorities, institutionalized PPPs (mixed companies) are still quite puzzling for both practitioners and academics. In fact, the following questions deserve further investigation: When are mixed companies expected to depict a higher performance than other options? What are the risks involved and how should they be allocated and mitigated? How should mixed companies be monitored and evaluated? The articles in this Special Issue provide insightful answers to these and many other relevant questions to policy makers

Screening Tools Designed to Assess and Evaluate Oropharyngeal Dysphagia in Adult Patients: A Scoping Review

Oropharyngeal Dysphagia (OD) significantly decreases a patient’s quality of life and poses a high economic burden to institutions. In this sense, evaluation and assessment are important interventions for health professionals, although current tools and instruments are multiple and are dispersed in the literature. The aim of this review was to map existing screening tools to assess and evaluate OD in adult patients, identify their relevant clinical parameters and respective contexts of use and provide a systematic approach and summary to better inform practice. A scoping review was developed guided by the JBI methodology and using PRISMA-ScR to report results published between 2014 and 2021, in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Databases included Medline, Academic Search Complete, CINAHL Complete, Scielo, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, OpenGrey and B-On. Mendeley was used to store and screen data. A total of 33 studies were included in the study, of which 19 tools were identified, some being intervention-based tools and others an algorithm for decision. The most common context used was in the general population and older adults. Regarding clinical parameters, the most common were food consistency, presence of the cough reflex, swallowing effort, voice changes and weight. As oropharyngeal dysphagia concerns important risks for the patient, a rigorous assessment must be performed. In this sense, the review identified specific disease-related tools and more general instruments, and it is an important contribution to more efficient dysphagia screening and prevention.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ocean sampling and surveillance using autonomous sailboats

In this paper, we discuss some of the potential applications of small scale autonomous sailboats. The use of autonomous sailboats for ocean sampling has been tentatively proposed before, but there have been minor efforts towards the development and deployment of actual prototypes, due to a number of technical limitations and significant risks of operation. We show that, currently, most of the limitations have been surpassed, with the existing availability of extremely low power electronics, flexible computational systems and high performance renewable power sources. At the same time, some of the major risks have been mitigated, allowing this emerging technology to become an effective tool for a wide range of applications in real scenarios. We illustrate some of these scenarios and we describe the status of the current efforts being made to develop operational prototypes, with some promising results already being achieved

Autonomous sailboats: an emerging technology for ocean sampling and surveillance

Autonomous sailboats are robotic vessels that use wind energy for propulsion and control the sails and rudders without human intervention. The use of autonomous sailboats for ocean sampling has been tentatively proposed before, but there have been minor efforts towards the development and deployment of actual prototypes, due to a number of technical limitations and significant risks of operation. Currently, most of the limitations have been surpassed, with the availability of extremely low power electronics, flexible computational systems, reliable communication devices and high performance renewable power sources. At the same time, some of the major risks have been mitigated, allowing this emerging technology to become an effective tool for a wide range of applications in real scenarios. We illustrate some of these scenarios and we describe the status of the current efforts being made to develop operational prototypes

FASt - An autonomous sailing platform for oceanographic missions

Sailing has been for long times the only means of ship propulsion at sea. Although the performance of a sailing vessel is well below the present power driven ships, either in terms of navigation speed and predictability, wind energy is absolutely renewable, clean and free. Unmanned autonomous sailing boats may exhibit a virtually unlimited autonomy and be able to perform unassisted missions at sea for long periods of time. Promising applications include oceanographic and weather data collecting, surveillance and even military applications. The Microtransat competition, launched in Europe in 2006, has been a key initiative to promote the development of robotic unmanned sailing boats. Various regattas have taken place across Europe and the ultimate challenge will be a transatlantic race. This paper presents an autonomous sailing boat developed at the University of Porto, Portugal, with emphasis on the hardware and software computing infrastructure. This platform is capable of carrying a few kilograms of sensing equipment that can be hooked to the boat's main computer, also providing support for short and long range data communications

Avaliações cognitivas, emoções e coping : um estudo com futebolistas portugueses

O presente trabalho teve como objectivo analisar os padrões e associações das estratégias de coping, da avaliação cognitiva, da ansiedade e de outras emoções em atletas de futebol. Os sujeitos deste estudo foram 14 atletas, com idades entre 17 e 19 anos (M=18.35±0.71). Foram utilizados os instrumentos: Escala de Avaliação Cognitiva da Competição – Percepção Ameaça e Desafio; Inventário de Emoções no Desporto V-2; Escala de Ansiedade no Desporto – 2; Escala de Avaliação da Ansiedade; e Brief COPE. Os resultados mostraram a estratégia de coping mais frequente, o coping activo, e a menos frequente, o uso de substâncias. A competição desportiva foi percepcionada mais em termos de desafio do que ameaça, a esperança foi a emoção mais experienciada e a vergonha foi a emoção menos experienciadaThis study aimed to analyze the patterns and associations of coping strategies, cognitive appraisals, anxiety and other emotions of soccer players. The subjects were 14 athletes, aged between 17 and 19 years (M=18.35±0.71). We used the instruments: Cognitive Assessment Scale Competition - Threat and Challenge; Inventory Emotions in Sport V-2, Sport Anxiety Scale, Revised Anxiety Rating Scale – 2, and Brief COPE. Results showed the most common coping strategy, active coping, and the less frequent, substance use. The sports competition was appraised more in terms of challenge than threat, hope was the emotion more experienced and shame the emotion less experienced.Este estudio tuvo como objetivo analizar los patrones y las asociaciones de las estrategias de coping, evaluación cognitiva, ansiedad y otras emociones de jugadores de fútbol. Los sujetos fueron 14 atletas, con edades comprendidas entre 17 y 19 años (M=18.35±0.71). Se utilizaron los instrumentos: Escala de Evaluación Cognitiva de Competición-Percepción de Amenaza y Desafio; Inventario de Emociones en el deporte V-2; Escala de Ansiedad de Deporte; Escala de Evaluación de Ansiedad – 2 y Brief COPE. Los resultados mostraron la estrategia de coping más común, coping activo, y uso de sustancias menos frecuente. La competición deportiva se percibía más en términos de desafio que amenaza, esperanza era la emoción que se experimentado más y vergüenza la emoción que se experimentado menos

Production and characterization of green and black olive paste using cream of animal and vegetable origins

Now-a-days the quest for foods with high flavonoid polyphenols content, lower fat concentration and relative high proportion of monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids is increasing. Following this tendency green and black olive pastes applying soy cream or cream of animal origin were produced equating a subsequent industrial output, and the rheological, physicochemical and sensory characteristics of were characterized. It was found that the cohesiveness, adhesiveness and hardness of the black olive paste having cream of animal origin showed minimal values. Among samples the moisture varied between 67.15 -72.16% and the inorganic residue of the black olive pastes were also significantly lower from the green olive pastes. Minimum and maximum pH values were measured in green olive paste having soy cream and black paste with cream of animal origin, respectively. The crude fat showed significant differences among the olive pastes, whereas the protein content did not vary significantly. The colour of the black paste with cream of animal origin and soy were slightly orange, whereas the green paste remained green. The sensory analysis of the black olive paste including cream of animal origin showed lower average values for consistency and appearance attributes but the opposite occurred with the salty taste and overall assessment. Concerning to the aroma, the black olive pastes showed the highest values, while the green olive pastes kept similar values. It is concluded that the higher pH of the black olive pastes in conjunction with the water contents limits the shelf life and clearly pointed the need a careful microbial control. Considering that the colour parameters of a food is the first contact point of the consumer, these descriptors in the green olive pastes also seemed to have better acceptance, whereas preferences did not followed healthy options