Resilience in Highways: Proposal of Roadway Redundancy Indicators and Application in Segments of the Brazilian Network

With the growing realization that transport systems must operate satisfactorily not only in typical situations, but also in adverse circumstances, ensuring redundancies in road systems has gained crucial importance. In this context, several methods have been proposed for measuring the vulnerabilities and resilience of transport systems. However, a simple metric to understand and quantify the degree of redundancy of a given road segment is still necessary, mainly to guide the responsible bodies regarding the need for intervention or special care with certain sections of the system. Thus, this paper proposes a redundancy indicator based on network analyses in the vicinity of an element. The proposed indicator was first calculated on nine application examples and then on a substantial sample of the Brazilian road network (~10% of segments). The results demonstrate that the indicator can satisfactorily describe the variety of cases in the Brazilian network, capturing cases where there is significant redundancy in the elements, as in some regions of the Southeast and South; or cases of very low redundancy, such as the sparse grid in the north of the country. It was also verified that the indicator has a particular sensitivity to parameters of the defined function, requiring further research for an acceptable calibration.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables. Presented at ANPET 2023, Santos, S\~ao Paulo, Brazi

Effect of Pre-Hydrolysis Reaction Conditions on Xylooligosaccharides Extraction in Eucalyptus Globulus

Pre-hydrolysis-kraft of Eucalyptus globulus by autohydrolysis (batch) and with dilute acid hydrolysis (flow-through reactor) were explored in this study, to examine the recovery of xylooligosaccharides (XOs) from the pre-hydrolysis treatment. The results of this work support the potential reuse of the hydrolysate to increase the recovery yield of added value compounds. The pH of the dilute acid hydrolysis was maintained at 3.5 with acetic acid, to mimic the conditions of the batch reactor medium (autohydrolysis). An increase of XOs recovered was evident when the pre-treatment was in the flow-through reactor instead of the batch reactor. In the latter, a high concentration of furfural was recovered, showing the influence of time in XO conversion through hydrolysis. The total yield of pulp was higher in the flow-through reactor (36.4%) in comparison with the batch system (34.5%) after kraft pulping, which was expected, given the increasing time that the hydrolysate was present in the reactor; however, the difference was small and could have been the result of precipitated compounds in the latter, so this needs further analysis. Keywords: cellulose, Eucalyptus globulus, pre-hydrolysis kraft, xylooligosaccharide

Contributos para suportar o desenvolvimento de sistemas de diálogo

With the increase of technology present in our daily routine, a specific area rose exponentially. Spoken dialogue systems are increasingly popular and useful: they provide an easier and more versatile access to large and diverse sets of information. Nowadays there is a vast knowledge base regarding this topic, as well as different systems capable of performing numerous tasks just by simply processing voice input. There are also an increasing set of tools for their development. Despite recent advances, development of dialog systems continues to be challenging. The main objective of this thesis is to contribute and make possible and simple the development of new dialogue systems for Portuguese: by selecting, adapting and combining existing tools/frameworks. Supported by the enhancements made to the selected basis framework, two different dialog systems were developed: the first is an assistant aimed at a Smart Home environment - one of areas that benefited the most with the development of dialog systems - and the second targeting accessible tourism. The first assistant was developed aligned with the Smart Green Homes project. It implied the definition of scenarios and requirements that later helped defining the ontology and the system. Another requirement for this system was the inclusion of the back-end system developed previously as part of the Smart Green Homes project. The second was aligned with the project ACTION in the area of Tourism. It was developed for users with accessibility needs, e.g., impaired movement or vision.Com o aumento da tecnologia presente na nossa rotina diária, uma área específica subiu exponencialmente. Os sistemas de diálogo são cada vez mais populares e úteis: proporcionam um acesso mais fácil e versátil a grandes e diversificados conjuntos de informação. Hoje em dia existe uma vasta base de conhecimento sobre este tema, bem como diferentes sistemas capazes de executar inúmeras tarefas através do processamento de uma entrada de voz. Há também um conjunto crescente de ferramentas para o seu desenvolvimento. Apesar dos avanços recentes, o desenvolvimento de sistemas de diálogo continua a ser um desafio. O principal objetivo desta tese é contribuir e tornar possível e simples o desenvolvimento de novos sistemas de diálogo que suportem português: selecionando, adaptando e combinando ferramentas existentes. Baseado nas melhorias feitas nas ferramentas bases selecionadas, foram desenvolvidos dois sistemas de diálogo diferentes: o primeiro é um assistente dirigido a um ambiente Smart Home - uma das áreas que mais beneficiou com o desenvolvimento de sistemas de diálogo - e o segundo visando o turismo acessível. O primeiro assistente foi desenvolvido alinhado com o projeto Smart Green Homes. Implicou a definição de cenários e requisitos que mais tarde ajudaram a definir a ontologia e o sistema. Outro requisito para este sistema foi a inclusão do sistema back-end desenvolvido anteriormente como parte do projeto Smart Green Homes. O segundo assistente foi alinhado com o projeto ACTION na área do Turismo. Foi desenvolvido para utilizadores com necessidades de acessibilidade, por exemplo, deficiência motora ou invisualidade.Mestrado em Engenharia de Computadores e Telemátic

On the use of IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee as federating communication protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks

Tese de mestrado. Redes e Serviços de Comunicação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto, Instituto Superior de Engenharia. 200

Three-dimensional electrospun constructs for wound healing applications

This thesis embraces the opportunity to develop a wound dressing substrate that not only attends the functional requirements of a wound dressing, but also avoids the need of secondary dressings. Novel electrostatically driven self-assembled fibrous based materials made of poly(ε-caprolactone) are manufactured, resulting in asymmetrical materials with enhanced topographies. Such constructs are characterized by a flat bottom side and a top side populated with fibrous-based microsized protrusions, which have a median inter-protusion distance of 528 μm and a median peak density of 73 peaks per cm2. For the first time, it is provided a full explanation of the underlying fabrication phenomena, suggesting new routes to other polymers such as gelatin or chitosan. After the characterization of the proposed substrates, such materials are functionalized by layer-by-layer. Several combinations of polyelectrolytes (chitosan, gelatin, alginate, hyaluronic acid, poly-1, linear polyethyleneimine and dextran sulphate) and layer numbers (n = 1, 3, 5 or 10) are tested regarding the physicochemical properties of the generated multi-layered films, as well as the cellular adhesion on these constructs. It is intended to formulate, test and control, the underlying phenomena that avoids the cellular adhesion and proliferation within the used dressing. As prepared these materials are capable of withstanding (11.0 ± 0.3)×104 kg per m2 after 14 days of hydration. Their unique asymmetry promotes unidirectional liquid uptake (from the top side towards the inner structure of the materials), while being impermeable to potential external liquid-forms of infection at its bottom side. Nevertheless, such constructs also observed the high porosity (89.9%) and high surface area (1.44 m2.g-1) characteristic of traditional electrospun mats. The selected coating reduced cellular adhesion on the constructs throughout the generation of a rubbery film layer, which would also provide a means to tailor water vapor transmission and swelling ratio for different wound environments specifications (e.g. ischemic wounds, I/II/III-degree burns, etc.). As a showcase, functionalized wound dressing substrates were able to achieve 90 ± 0.5 % of wound closure within 48 hours