Controlling factors on clay mineral assemblages: insights from facies analysis of Pliocene to Pleistocene coastal margin deposits, Western Portugal

The clay fractions in the Pliocene to Pleistocene coastal margin record are usually dominated by kaolinite and illite, with lesser amounts of vermiculite, 10-14 mixed layer clays and smectite. The high clay mineral crystallinity, the mineralogical relations to facies and depositional setting and some horizontal variations along coeval deposits suggest that clay assemblages are mainly detrital. Illite is more important in inner shelf deposits and particularly in alluvial deposits from eastern locations. The high illite content in eastern alluvial deposits is explained by the input from the neighbouring Iberian Variscan Massif that is rich in mica. The high kaolinite content in prograding sand and gravel coastal plain is partially explained by the availability of this mineral in the drainage areas. Given the arkosic nature of some of these deposits, post-depositional feldspars weathering would also contribute to an increase in kaolinite content. Vermiculite is particularly important close to the surface and to unconformities, in horizons influenced by pedogenetic processes that have more aluminous illite with relatively low crystallinity. In organic rich mud sediments low pH conditions favour post-depositional transformation of illite to vermiculite and mixed layer clays

Performance assessment of wireless power transfer links for implantable microsystems

Wireless power transfer is a hot topic due to the growth of implanted device solutions which, as they get smaller and smarter, demand new solutions to power them up. These solutions need to keep the power level, namely SAR (specific absorption ratio) below a determined safety standard and to allow the device to be as small as possible. Current fabrication techniques allow the creation of ultra-small 3D antennas integrated on silicon wafers, which can lead to the miniaturization of implantable devices due to the possible reduction or even elimination of battery size. To evaluate this possibility, the antenna must be tested in conditions close to real working conditions, requiring the use of human body phantoms. This paper proposes a solution to measure the power received by an ultra-small antenna placed inside a phantom, without the use of coaxial cables attached to the device. Instead, an optoelectronic mechanism is used to route the received power to an optical fiber, and an optical spectrum analyzer is used to measure the received power.This work was supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology: FCT-PTDC/EEI-TEL/2881/2012, Programa Operacional Temático Fatores de Competitividade (COMPETE) and Fundo Comunitário Europeu FEDER.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comparative study of inner shelf sediments (Plio-Pleistocene and present day cover) in the Western Portuguese margin

A comparative study between Pliocene-Pleistocene and present day inner shelf deposits, considering both grain-size distribution and the present day hydrodynamic conditions, at west Portuguese Coastal Margin, is conducted. The modal grain-size analysis indicates that the west Portuguese Plio-Pleistocene inner shelf sediments are made of a mixture of several populations. The coarser populations (mode >0.5 mm, 1empty set) result from reworking of previous shoreface and beach deposits after storm events or are related with transgressive ravinement lags. The intermediate population, with modes around 0.125 to 0.250 mm (3 to 2empty set), should be in equilibrium with the hydrodynamic storm conditions in the inner shelf. This population is also the main constituent of the present day inner shelf cover between 10 and 25 meters depth. The finer population, with modes around 32 mu m (5empty set), is probably deposited from suspension during fair-weather periods. Under the high hydrodynamic winter storm conditions this population remains in suspension and tends to be mobilized to outer shelf locations by downward currents. It is expected that the mud size population proportion in bulk sediment should increases basinward, but this proportion may as well be influenced by post-depositional processes in ancient deposits

Threats and opportunities for workplace ergonomics in lean environments

Lean Management Systems (LMS) have become very popular among the manufacturing industry, services and large commercial areas. A LMS must develop and consider a set of work energizers to bring compatibility with workplace ergonomics, namely at a muscular, cognitive, and emotional demands level. The goal of this study is the identification of the most relevant impacts of a LMS adoption from the ergonomic point of view and cited in the literature and the synthesis of some possible drawbacks in workplace ergonomics due to a flawed application of the LMS. A final discussion about the most important, positive and negative, impacts are present at the end of the paper

Slot antenna design for a wirelessly powered implantable microcooler for neuronal applications

Implantable medical devices are becoming smaller by the day, with more efficient electronics and smaller power demands. Nevertheless, there are some applications in which power demands are inherently high, and solutions must be found in order to keep the devices as small as possible. In this paper, we propose an antenna to be used in wirelessly powering a focal brain cooling implant based on a Peltier device. This antenna is designed in order to act as a heatsink for the device with the goal of minimizing its final volume, therefore design constrains such as size limitations and geometry restrictions are considered.This work is supported by FCT with the reference project PTDC/EEI-TEL/5250/2014, by FEDER funds through Projecto 3599 - Promover a Producao Cientifica e Desenvolvimento Tecnologico e a Constituicao de Redes Tematicas (3599-PPCDT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Characterization of chip-size electrically-small antennas for smart wireless biomedical devices

The new requirements for smarter and smaller biomedical microsystems demand for new integration technologies, including antenna integration. This can be solved with the use of microfabrication technologies, allowing the fabrication of chip-size antennas that may be placed on top of silicon wafers. However, due to their ultra-small physical dimensions and special operating conditions (e.g., covered with body tissue phantoms), antenna characterization requires the use of auxiliary custom-made transitions between antenna and test equipment, which are much larger than the antennas under test. Since electrically small antennas show also very small gain, the use of test boards may carry a significant impact on the antenna's characteristics. This paper presents a methodology used to investigate the performance of chip-size 3D antennas (500x500x500 mu m(3)) designed to operate inside the human body in the frequency band 1-8 GHz.This work was supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology: FCT-PTDC/EEI-TEL/2881/2012, Programa Operacional Temático Fatores de Competitividade (COMPETE) and Fundo Comunitário Europeu FEDER.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Optimization of a p-persistent Network Diversity Multiple Access Protocol for a SC-FDE System

This paper presents a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol solution designed to properly handle collisions when in the presence of a multi-packet detection receiver for Single-Carrier (SC) modulations with Frequency-Domain Equalization (FDE). It is considered an iterative frequency-domain receiver that jointly performs equalization, multi-packet separation and channel decoding operations, for up to Qmax mobile terminals transmitting in one slot. In this work, it is proposed and evaluated a p-persistent Network Diversity Multiple Access (NDMA) random MAC protocol designed to cope with a total number of mobile terminals J, for a maximum decoding capability of Qmax simultaneous packets. An accurate analytical model is presented to optimize two different scenarios: in the first one, a saturated network is considered and it is determined the packet transmission probability that maximizes the uplink throughput; the second represents a non-saturated network and the goal is to compute the optimal transmission probability associated to each mobile terminal that minimizes the packet transmission delay. In the end, analytical results obtained through physical and MAC layer simulations are discussed

Current status and future trends of mechanized fruit thinning devices and sensor technology

This paper reviews the different concepts that have been investigated concerning the mechanization of fruit thinning as well as multiple working principles and solutions that have been developed for feature extraction of horticultural products, both in the field and industrial environments. The research should be committed towards selective methods, which inevitably need to incorporate some kinds of sensor technology. Computer vision often comes out as an obvious solution for unstructured detection problems, although leaves despite the chosen point of view frequently occlude fruits. Further research on non-traditional sensors that are capable of object differentiation is needed. Ultrasonic and Near Infrared (NIR) technologies have been investigated for applications related to horticultural produce and show a potential to satisfy this need while simultaneously providing spatial information as time of flight sensors. Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology also shows a huge potential but it implies much greater costs and the related equipment is usually much larger, making it less suitable for portable devices, which may serve a purpose on smaller unstructured orchards. Portable devices may serve a purpose on these types of orchards. In what concerns sensor methods, on-tree fruit detection, major challenge is to overcome the problem of fruits’ occlusion by leaves and branches. Hence, nontraditional sensors capable of providing some type of differentiation should be investigated.This work was developed as part of +Pêssego project which purpose is to promote the innovation and development of peach tree culture in the region of Beira Interior, Portugal. This project was financed by a national rural development and support program, PRODER.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio