End to End Reliability without Unicast Acknowledgements over Vehicular Networks

The Future Cities Project (http://futurecities.up.pt/) has turned the city of Porto (Portugal) into an urban-scale living lab, where researchers, companies and startups can develop and test technologies, products and services. One of its largest infrastructures is the UrbanSense testbed, consisting of 25 environmental sensing units installed around the city, and another the BusNet, a vehicular ad-hoc network installed in over 400 STCP buses together with 55 Road Side Units (RSU), operated by the UP spin-off Veniam. The data gathered by UrbanSense is carried by BusNet to a storage facility. Because BusNet does not support unicast addressing, there i currently on means to provide end-to-end reliability to the communication, leading to data losses. The goal of this thesis is to explore possibilities to address this problem, designing an application level protocol that provides reliability to the data transfer without requiring unicast addressing. Instead, the protocol should leverage the knowledge about bus routes and geographic location of sensing nodes to target the delivery of the acknowledgements

Caracterização da Resposta Imune no Timo em Resposta a Infecções Micobacterianas

Dissertação de Mestrado em Ciências da SaúdeContact with mycobacteria is common worldwide. Attention is mostly directed to the massive number of infections with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (about 1/3rd of the world’s population) and Mycobacterium avium in co-infected HIV patients and other immunocompromised individuals. Our laboratory has recently shown that, in the mouse model, mycobacteria are able to infect the thymus, the organ responsible for T lymphocyte differentiation, rendering newly differentiated T cells tolerant in responding to mycobacterial antigens. The bacterial load in the thymus slowly progresses, reaching a stagnation at more advanced periods of infection (16 weeks post-infection), while in the spleen it occurs after 4 weeks. In the spleen, this stagnation is clearly associated to the appearance of IFN-γ secreting T cells, and so we suspected the involvement of these cells in the thymus as well. Indeed, coinciding with the stabilization of the bacterial load in the thymus is an increased expression of IFN-γ at 16 weeks post-infection (wpi), in infected mice, followed by an increase in iNOS expression, a marker of macrophagic activation, at 24wpi. Knowing the immature phenotype of newly generated T cells in the adult mice, we suspected the involvement of mature T cells, which are re-circulating from peripheral organs back to the thymus, in the thymic mycobacterial infection. Using the transgenic RAG-GFP mice, that allow the discrimination of newly generated T cells (GFP+) from re-circulating T cells (GFP-), we assessed the number, specificity and IFN-γ secreting ability of both these populations in the thymus. As previously described and further confirmed by our group, re-circulating T cells have a phenotype consistent with high expression levels of CD44 and low of CD24, allowing us to also extend this analysis to wild type mice. Increased levels of the Th1 recruiting chemokines IP-10, MIG and MIP-1β was detected in the thymus from 16 weeks of infection in comparison to non-infected mice. Although the number of re-circulating cells was not increased by infection, this pool was enriched with specific mycobacterial T cells. We were able to detect an increased number of mycobacterial antigen (Ag)85-specific T cells within the pool of re-circulating cells after 16 weeks of infection, in wild type mice, and 20 weeks, in RAG-GFP mice. Moreover, when transferring re-circulating T cells from RAG-GFP mice, with 20 weeks of infection, into infected mice with no αβT cells (TCRα-/-), these cells were more capable of producing IFN-γ when stimulated specifically with Ag85 but not with PMA+ION. Furthermore, these cells also have a tendency to be more enriched with Ag85-specific T cells. The data from this work presents evidence of an ongoing immune response in the thymus, which occurs at later time points and with a distinct activation profile from that in the spleen. The thymus recruits mycobacterial T cells from the periphery, which appear to be major producers of IFN-γ.Contacto com micobactérias é comum mundialmente. A atenção é normalmente direccionada para o vasto número de infecções com Mycobacterium tuberculosis (estimado a ser 1/3 da população mundial) e com Mycobacterium avium em pacientes co-infectados com HIV e outros indivíduos imunocomprometidos. O nosso laboratório mostrou que, no modelo do ratinho, as micobactérias são capazes de infectar o timo, o órgão responsável pela diferenciação de linfócitos T, gerando células recém diferenciadas que são tolerantes a responder a antigénios micobacterianos A carga bacteriana no timo progride lentamente, estagnando em períodos mais avançados da infecção (16 semanas pós-infecção), enquanto que no baço esta ocorre após 4 semanas. No baço esta estagnação está claramente associado ao aparecimento de células T capazes de segregar IFN-γ, e sendo assim suspeitamos o envolvimento destas mesmas células no timo. Deveras, coincidente com a estabilização da carga bacteriana no timo está um aumento da expressão de IFN-γ às 16 semanas pós infecção, em ratinhos infectados, seguido por um aumento da expressão de iNOS, um marcador de activação macrofágica, às 24 semanas de infecção. Sabendo do fenótipo imaturo das células T recém diferenciadas em ratinhos adultos, suspeitamos do envolvimento de células T maturas, que estão e re-circular de órgãos periféricos de novo para o timo, na infecção micobacteriana do timo. Usando ratinhos transgénicos RAG-GFP, que possibilitam a distinção entre células T recém diferenciadas (GFP+) e células T que estão e re-circular (GFP-), fomos estudar o número, a especificidade e a capacidade de produzir IFN-γ de ambas estas populações celulares no timo. Como previamente descrito e posteriormente confirmado pelo nosso grupo, células T em re-circulação possuem um fenótipo consistente com elevados níveis de expressão de CD44 e baixos de CD24, possibilitando a extensão desta análise a animais não mutantes. Níveis elevados de quimiocinas recrutadoras de Th1 IP-10, MIG e MIP-1β foram detectadas no timo a parir das 16 semanas de infecção. Apesar do número de células em re-circulação não estar alterado pela infecção, esta população estava enriquecida com células T específicas para micobactérias. Também detectamos um aumento de células T específicas para o antigénio (Ag)85 micobacteriano dentro da população de células a re-circular após 16 semanas de infecção, em animais não mutantes, e 20 semanas, em animais RAG-GFP. Transferindo células T em re-circulação de animais RAG-GFP, com 20 semanas de infecção, para animais sem células αβT (TCRα-/-), estas eram mais capazes de produzir IFN-γ quando estimulados com Ag85 mas não com PMA+ION. Além disso, estas células aparentam ter uma tendência para serem mais enriquecidas com células T específicas para Ag85. Os dados destes trabalho evidenciam uma resposta imune no timo, que ocorre mais tardiamente e com um perfil de activação distinto daquele que ocorre no baço. O timo recruta células T específicas para micobactérias da periferia, que aparentam ser produtoras de IFN-γ.The work presented in this thesis was done in the Laboratory of Immunology of Infection, Microbiology and Infection Research Domain of the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal (ICVS/3B’s – PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal). The financial support was given by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (PTDC/SAU-MII/101663/2008)

User friendly knowledge acquisition system for medical devices actuation

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia BiomédicaInternet provides a new environment to develop a variety of applications. Hence, large amounts of data, increasing every day, are stored and transferred through the internet. These data are normally weakly structured making information disperse, uncorrelated, non-transparent and difficult to access and share. Semantic Web, proposed by theWorldWideWeb Consortium (W3C), addresses this problem by promoting semantic structured data, like ontologies, enabling machines to perform more work involved in finding, combining, and acting upon information on theWeb. Pursuing this vision, a Knowledge Acquisition System (KAS) was created, written in JavaScript using JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) as the data structure and JSON Schema to define that structure. It grants new ways to acquire and store knowledge semantically structured and human readable. Plus, structuring data with a Schema generates a software robust and error – free. A novel Human Computer Interaction (HCI) framework was constructed employing this KAS, allowing the end user to configure and control medical devices. To demonstrate the potential of this tool, we present the configuration and control of an electrostimulator. Nowadays, most of the software for Electrostimulation is made with specific purposes, and in some cases they have complicated user interfaces and large, bulky designs that deter usability and acceptability. The HCI concedes the opportunity to configure and control an electrostimulator that surpasses the specific use of several electrostimulator software. In the configuration the user is able to compile different types of electrical impulses (modes) in a temporal session, automating the control, making it simple and user-friendly

Stress Transiently Affects Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer

Stress has a strong impact in the brain, impairing decision-making processes as a result of changes in circuits involving the prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices and the striatum. Given that these same circuits are key for action control and outcome encoding, we hypothesized that adaptive responses to which these are essential functions, could also be targeted by stress. To test this hypothesis we herein assessed the impact of chronic stress in a Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) paradigm, a model of an adaptive response in which a previously conditioned cue biases an instrumental goal-directed action. Data reveals that rats submitted to chronic unpredictable stress did not display deficits in pavlovian conditioning nor on the learning of the instrumental task, but were impaired in PIT; importantly, after a stress-free period the PIT deficits were no longer observed. These results are relevant to understand how stress biases multiple incentive processes that contribute to instrumental performance

Oleogels and Organogels: A Promising Tool for New Functionalities

Growing awareness concerning human health and sustainability has been continually driving the need to change consumers’ habits and develop new bio-based and environmentally friendly materials that could be used in new product formulations [...

Identification of novel Cu, Ag, and Au ternary oxides from global structural prediction

We use ab initio global structural prediction, and specifically the minima hopping method, to explore the periodic table in search of novel oxide phases. In total, we study 183 different compositions of the form MXO2, where M=(Cu, Ag, Au) and X is an element of the periodic table. This set includes the well-known Cu delafossite compounds that are, up to now, the best p-type transparent conductive oxides known to mankind. Our calculations discover 81 stable compositions, out of which only 36 are included in available databases. Some of these new phases are potentially good candidates for transparent electrodes. These results demonstrate, on one hand, how incomplete is still our knowledge of the phase-space of stable ternary materials. On the other hand, we show that structural prediction combined with high-throughput approaches is a powerful tool to extend that knowledge, paving the way for the experimental discovery of new materials on a large scale

Edible packaging based on natural sources for food applications

16th IUFoST World Congress of Food Science and Technology: Addressing Global Food Security and Wellness through Food Science and Technology[Excerpt] Innovations constantly appear in food packaging, always aiming at creating a more efficient quality preservation system while improving foods’ attractiveness and marketability. The utilization of renewable sources for packaging materials, such as hydrocolloids from biological origin, is one of the main trends of the food packaging industry. Edible films/coatings have been considered as one of the potential technologies that can be used to increase the storability of foods and to improve the existent packaging technology, helping to ensure microbial safety and preservation of food from the influence of external factors. [...]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development and characterization of galactomannan acetate nanoparticles

16th IUFoST World Congress of Food Science and Technology: Addressing Global Food Security and Wellness through Food Science and Technology[Excerpt] Nanoparticles from natural polysaccharides are a good alternative for synthetic compounds due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, hydrophilicity and protective properties. Galactomannans are neutral, water-soluble polysaccharides highly used in food industry. They have potential for the preparation of nanoparticles that can be used as a carrier for functional compounds for food and pharmaceutical applications. The present work aimed at developing nanoparticles from guar gum through acetylation of the galactomannan and using the solvent diffusion method for nanoparticle formation. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized by means of dynamic light scattering (DLS) (size and polydispersivity), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Guar gum was acetylated through solubilization in formamide at 54 ºC. Then pyridine and acetic anhydride were added and left under stirring for 48 h at 54 ºC. The obtained solution was precipitated and purified in water. After successive washings with water the precipitate was dried at 35 ºC during 48 h. The nanoparticles were obtained through the solvent diffusion method by solubilization of acetylated galactomannan solution in DMSO that was then dispersed in water. [...]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Active carboxymethyl cellulose-based edible coatings for the extension of fresh goldenberries shelf-life

Edible coatings based on natural sources are a good alternative to protect and increase the shelf-life of the fruits. In this work, active carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)-based edible coatings enriched with functional ingredients, extracted from spent coffee grounds (SCG), were produced and used to increase the shelf-life of fresh goldenberries. Thus, three different treatments were tested on fresh goldenberries: (i) coating CMC (CMC-based edible coating); (ii) coating CMC-A (CMC-based edible coating with 0.2% (w/v) of polysaccharide-rich extract from SCG); and (iii) coating CMC-B (CMC-based edible coating with 0.2% (w/v) of polysaccharide-rich extract, and 0.2% (w/v) of phenolic compounds encapsulated from SCG), being compared with uncoated goldenberries. Physicochemical and microbiological properties of the fruits were evaluated throughout 12 and 28 days of storing at 20 °C and 65% relative humidity and 4 °C and 95% RH, respectively. The results showed that the temperature and relative humidity significantly influenced the quality of goldenberries, increasing their shelf-life almost two-fold when stored at 4 °C and 95% RH. Both CMC-A and CMC-B coatings controlled weight loss and decreased the gas transfer rates (O2, CO2, and C2H4), mainly when goldenberries were stored at 20 °C and 65% RH. Moreover, coating CMC-A was better for delaying microbial growth, while the edible coating CMC-B gave an extra content of phenolic compounds to goldenberries, increasing thus their antioxidant potential.This research was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sustainable smart parking solution in a campus environment

INTRODUCTION: With the continuous growth of cities and its demography, the number of vehicles has also increased in the cities which contributes to a greater difficulty in finding parking spaces. The time it takes for a citizen to find a free space in a car park can be tiring and contributes negatively to the level of air pollution. Smart Parking solutions intend to address this issue by proposing systems that, in many cases, include sensors and/or cameras with the purpose of facilitating the search for available parking spots. OBJECTIVES: In this paper, a crowdsourcing-based approach that makes use of a mobile app for facilitating the search for a parking space in the Instituto Polit?cnico de Viana do Castelo is presented. METHODS: The solutions intend to lower the time to park and, therefore, the amount of CO2 produced by vehicles of the academic community. Some gamification techniques were used to motivate users to be engaged with the mobile app. RESULTS: A survey was used to evaluate the solution and the app usability. It showed that the use of the app can contribute to reduce the time spent to find a parking space in approximately 50.75%, and consequently reducing the CO2 by the same amount, and it was also verified that the users enjoyed using the mobile app. CONCLUSION: The developed solution shows the efficient use of mobile applications, crowdsourcing and gamification approaches and their role to contribute to a more sustainable mobility.5311-8814-F0ED | Sara Maria da Cruz Maia de Oliveira PaivaN/