Deploying RIOT operating system on a reconfigurable Internet of Things end-device

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Eletrónica Industrial e ComputadoresThe Internet of Everything (IoE) is enabling the connection of an infinity of physical objects to the Internet, and has the potential to connect every single existing object in the world. This empowers a market with endless opportunities where the big players are forecasting, by 2020, more than 50 billion connected devices, representing an 8 trillion USD market. The IoE is a broad concept that comprises several technological areas and will certainly, include more in the future. Some of those already existing fields are the Internet of Energy related with the connectivity of electrical power grids, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), for instance, enables patient monitoring, Internet of Industrial Things (IoIT), which is dedicated to industrial plants, and the Internet of Things (IoT) that focus on the connection of everyday objects (e.g. home appliances, wearables, transports, buildings, etc.) to the Internet. The diversity of scenarios where IoT can be deployed, and consequently the different constraints associated to each device, leads to a heterogeneous network composed by several communication technologies and protocols co-existing on the same physical space. Therefore, the key requirements of an IoT network are the connectivity and the interoperability between devices. Such requirement is achieved by the adoption of standard protocols and a well-defined lightweight network stack. Due to the adoption of a standard network stack, the data processed and transmitted between devices tends to increase. Because most of the devices connected are resource constrained, i.e., low memory, low processing capabilities, available energy, the communication can severally decrease the device’s performance. Hereupon, to tackle such issues without sacrificing other important requirements, this dissertation aims to deploy an operating system (OS) for IoT, the RIOT-OS, while providing a study on how network-related tasks can benefit from hardware accelerators (deployed on reconfigurable technology), specially designed to process and filter packets received by an IoT device.O conceito Internet of Everything (IoE) permite a conexão de uma infinidade de objetos à Internet e tem o potencial de conectar todos os objetos existentes no mundo. Favorecendo assim o aparecimento de novos mercados e infinitas possibilidades, em que os grandes intervenientes destes mercados preveem até 2020 a conexão de mais de 50 mil milhões de dispositivos, representando um mercado de 8 mil milhões de dólares. IoE é um amplo conceito que inclui várias áreas tecnológicas e irá certamente incluir mais no futuro. Algumas das áreas já existentes são: a Internet of Energy relacionada com a conexão de redes de transporte e distribuição de energia à Internet; Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), que possibilita a monotorização de pacientes; Internet of Industrial Things (IoIT), dedicada a instalações industriais e a Internet of Things (IoT), que foca na conexão de objetos do dia-a-dia (e.g. eletrodomésticos, wearables, transportes, edifícios, etc.) à Internet. A diversidade de cenários à qual IoT pode ser aplicado, e consequentemente, as diferentes restrições aplicadas a cada dispositivo, levam à criação de uma rede heterogénea composto por diversas tecnologias de comunicação e protocolos a coexistir no mesmo espaço físico. Desta forma, os requisitos chave aplicados às redes IoT são a conectividade e interoperabilidade entre dispositivos. Estes requisitos são atingidos com a adoção de protocolos standard e pilhas de comunicação bem definidas. Com a adoção de pilhas de comunicação standard, a informação processada e transmitida entre dispostos tende a aumentar. Visto que a maioria dos dispositivos conectados possuem escaços recursos, i.e., memória reduzida, baixa capacidade de processamento, pouca energia disponível, o aumento da capacidade de comunicação pode degradar o desempenho destes dispositivos. Posto isto, para lidar com estes problemas e sem sacrificar outros requisitos importantes, esta dissertação pretende fazer o porting de um sistema operativo IoT, o RIOT, para uma solução reconfigurável, o CUTE mote. O principal objetivo consiste na realização de um estudo sobre os benefícios que as tarefas relacionadas com as camadas de rede podem ter ao serem executadas em hardware via aceleradores dedicados. Estes aceleradores são especialmente projetados para processar e filtrar pacotes de dados provenientes de uma interface radio em redes IoT periféricas

Physical and transport proferties of edible films composed of galactomannan and chitosan

Edible films and coatings can provide additional protection for food, while being a fully biodegradable, environmentally friendly packaging system. The main objective of the study was to produce edible films and coatings based on chitosan and galactomannan of A. pavonina L., with the incorporation of sodium acetate and characterize them as to their physical properties. Films were cast and, the water vapor, O2 and CO2 permeabilities of the films were determined, together with their solubility in water, opacity, color and mechanical properties. The film of chitosangalactomannan with the addition of sodium acetate had lower permeability to water vapor (1.40 ± 0.02 (g.(m.day.atm)-1)) and elongation at break (67.11 ± 0.89%) being the most rigid film for presenting the highest Youngs modulus (35.68 ± 0.64 MPa). The blends showed the highest values of maximum voltage and breakdown voltage. The films based on galactomannan had a decreased permeability to O2 of 0.20 to 0.18 x 10-12 (g.(m.Pa.s.m2)-1, incorporating sodium acetate, also showing high permeability to CO2. The chitosan film without addition of sodium acetate had low lightness value L * (81.23 ± 1.43) and a higher opacity compared with the film containing acetate, suggesting that incorporation of sodium acetate increased transparency of the film. The films containing chitosan exhibited low water solubility and high b* component values, indicating the predominance of yellowing. The reported results is important once it will reduce the characterization work needed in subsequent applications of these coatings/films on foods

High-Risk Regions of African Swine Fever Infection in Mozambique

African swine fever (ASF) is a transboundary infectious disease that can infect wild and domestic swine and requires enhanced surveillance between countries. In Mozambique, ASF has been reported across the country, spreading between provinces, mainly through the movement of pigs and their by-products. Subsequently, pigs from bordering countries were at risk of exposure. This study evaluated the spatiotemporal distribution and temporal trends of ASF in swine in Mozambique between 2000 and 2020. During this period, 28,624 cases of ASF were reported across three regions of the country. In total, the northern, central, and southern regions presented 64.9, 17.8, and 17.3% of the total cases, respectively. When analyzing the incidence risk (IR) of ASF per 100,000 pigs, the Cabo Delgado province had the highest IR (17,301.1), followed by the Maputo province (8868.6). In the space-time analysis, three clusters were formed in each region: (i) Cluster A involved the provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula (north), (ii) Cluster B involved the province of Maputo and the city of Maputo (south), and (iii) Cluster C consisted of the provinces of Manica and Sofala (central) in 2006. However, when analyzing the temporal trend in the provinces, most were found to be decreasing, except for Sofala, Inhambane, and Maputo, which had a stationary trend. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the spatial distribution of ASF in Mozambique. These findings will contribute to increasing official ASF control programs by identifying high-risk areas and raising awareness of the importance of controlling the borders between provinces and countries to prevent their spread to other regions of the world

Polymorphisms in the CIITA −168A/G (rs3087456) and CIITA +1614G/C (rs4774) may influence severity in multiple sclerosis patients

ABSTRACT It is currently unknown how genetic factors may influence the clinical course of multiple sclerosis (MS). Objective: We examined the impact of CIITA polymorphisms −168A/G (rs3087456) and +1614G/C (rs4774) on the risk of disability progression, severity and on responses to first-line immunomodulator treatments. Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples. We used ABI3730xl and GeneMapper v.4.0 software to identify genotype variations. All patients were followed up and clinically reassessed at three-month intervals. Disability progression was measured by the Expanded Disability Status Scale and disease severity by the Multiple Sclerosis Spasticity Scale (MSSS). Results: We included 37 men and 80 women. We found no evidence regarding the influence of the single nucleotide polymorphisms studied in the Expanded Disability Status Scale or therapeutic response of the evaluated drugs. We performed a logistic regression analysis with the MSSS and found that a less severe MS course was associated with wild type CIITA −168AA and CIITA +1614GG, as the chance of the patient progressing to MSSS2 and MSSS3 decreased in 61% and 75% with CIITA −168AA and 66% and 75% with CIITA +1614GG, respectively (p < 0.0001). Although less significant, the CIITA +1614 GC also pointed to a less severe MS course and the chance of the patient progressing to MSSS3 decreased 79% (p = 0.015). We also observed that the CIITA −168GG genotype was more frequent in MSSS2 and MSSS3 and had 40% lower odds ratio to becoming more severe MS. Conclusion: These data suggest that CIITA −168AA, CIITA +1614GG and CIITA +1614 GC polymorphisms may be associated with a better MS clinical course. This knowledge may be useful for a better understanding of MS and its therapeutic management

Geografia e naturaleza : experiências e abordagens de pesquisas

O texto apresenta propostas metodológicas e/ou estudos que envolvem o tema Natureza, desenvolvidos por pesquisadores vinculados à Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados e à Universidade de Campinas. A concepção de Natureza reflete e refere-se a uma categoria que permite expor as experiências dos pesquisadores dessas duas instituições, geograficamente tão distantes, com realidades muito diferentes, mas que apresentam um conhecimento geográfico convergente no que diz respeito à busca do entendimento da relação homem-natureza e a espacialidade dos fenômenos sociais e naturais advindos disso. Não obstante, esse livro reflete o pensamento de gerações de geógrafos diferentes, com formações diversas, que foram capazes de dialogar entre si para buscar elementos que os unisse no campo da Geografia