ALBERT

Description: Energies, Vol. 10, Pages 1014: Proposal for an Experimental Methodology for Evaluation of Natural Lighting Systems Applied in Buildings Energies doi: 10.3390/en10071014 Authors: Anderson Diogo Spacek João Mota Neto Luciano Dagostin Biléssimo Oswaldo Hideo Ando Junior Gustavo Pedro De Freitas Neto Rodrigo Da Silva Giansella Marcus Vinícius Ferreira De Santana Celia De Fraga Malfatti This work has the objective of developing a methodology for the evaluation of indoor natural lighting systems, which, with speed and practicality, provides from real conditions of use a reliable result about the quality and performance of the proposed system. The methodology is based on the construction of two real-size test environments, which will be subjected to a natural light system through reflexive tubes made from recycled material, and to a commercial system already certified and consolidated, creating the possibility of comparison. Furthermore, the data acquired in the test environments will be examined in light of the values of solar radiation obtained from a digital meteorological station, such that it is possible to stipulate the lighting capacity of the systems at different times of the year.

Description: This paper presents the development of a smart walker that uses a formation controller in its displacements. Encoders, a laser range finder and ultrasound are the sensors used in the walker. The control actions are based on the user (human) location, who is the actual formation leader. There is neither a sensor attached to the user’s body nor force sensors attached to the arm supports of the walker, and thus, the control algorithm projects the measurements taken from the laser sensor into the user reference and, then, calculates the linear and angular walker’s velocity to keep the formation (distance and angle) in relation to the user. An algorithm was developed to detect the user’s legs, whose distances from the laser sensor provide the information necessary to the controller. The controller was theoretically analyzed regarding its stability, simulated and validated with real users, showing accurate performance in all experiments. In addition, safety rules are used to check both the user and the device conditions, in order to guarantee that the user will not have any risks when using the smart walker. The applicability of this device is for helping people with lower limb mobility impairments.

Description: Heat stress is considered a limiting factor for sheep production. We used information from physiological characteristics linked to heat tolerance to determine whether infrared thermography temperatures were able to separate groups of animals and determine the most important variables in this differentiation. Forty-eight four-month-old male lambs from eight genetic groups were used. Physiological (rectal temperature–RT, heart rate–HR, respiratory rate–RR) and blood traits, infrared thermography temperatures, heat tolerance indices, body measurements, weight and carcass traits were measured. Statistical analyses included variance, correlations, factor, discrimination and regression. Observing the correlations between physiological characteristics (RT, RR and HR) with temperatures measured by infrared thermography, regions for further studies should include the mean temperature of flank, nose and rump. Results show that there are strong relationships between thermograph measurements and RR, RT and HR in lambs, which are suggested to be directly correlated with heat tolerance capacity of the different genetic groups evaluated in this study. The assessment of body surface temperature measured by the thermograph could be used as a noninvasive tool to assess heat tolerance of the animals.

Description: Non-motorized transportation modes, especially cycling and walking, offer numerous benefits, including improvements in the livability of cities, healthy physical activity, efficient urban transportation systems, less traffic congestion, less noise pollution, clean air, less impact on climate change and decreases in the incidence of diseases related to vehicular emissions. Considering the substantial number of short-distance trips, the time consumed in traffic jams, the higher costs for parking vehicles and restrictions in central business districts, many commuters have found that non-motorized modes of transportation serve as viable and economical transport alternatives. Thus, local governments should encourage and stimulate non-motorized modes of transportation. In return, governments must provide safe conditions for these forms of transportation, and motorized vehicle users must respect and coexist with pedestrians and cyclists, which are the most vulnerable users of the transportation system. Although current trends in sustainable transport aim to encourage and stimulate non-motorized modes of transportation that are socially more efficient than motorized transportation, few to no safety policies have been implemented regarding vulnerable road users (VRU), mainly in large urban centers. Due to the spatial nature of the data used in transport-related studies, geospatial technologies provide a powerful analytical method for studying VRU safety frameworks through the use of spatial analysis. In this article, spatial analysis is used to determine the locations of regions that are characterized by a concentration of traffic accidents (black zones) involving VRU (injuries and casualties) in São Paulo, Brazil (developing country), and Rome, Italy (developed country). The black zones are investigated to obtain spatial patterns that can cause multiple accidents. A method based on kernel density estimation (KDE) is used to compare the two cities and show economic, social, cultural, demographic and geographic differences and/or similarities and how these factors are linked to the locations of VRU traffic accidents. Multivariate regression analyses (ordinary least squares (OLS) models and spatial regression models) are performed to investigate spatial correlations, to understand the dynamics of VRU road accidents in São Paulo and Rome and to detect factors (variables) that contribute to the occurrences of these events, such as the presence of trip generator hubs (TGH), the number of generated urban trips and demographic data. The adopted methodology presents satisfactory results for identifying and delimiting black spots and establishing a link between VRU traffic accident rates and TGH (hospitals, universities and retail shopping centers) and demographic and transport-related data.

Description: This article presents a corrosion resistant, maneuverable, and intrinsically safe fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based temperature optical sensor. Temperature monitoring is a critical activity for the oil and gas industry. It typically involves acquiring the desired parameters in a hazardous and corrosive environment. The use of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was proposed as a means of simultaneously isolating the optical fiber from the corrosive environment and avoiding undesirable mechanical tensions on the FBGs. The presented sensor head is based on multiple FBGs inscribed in a lengthy single mode fiber. The sensor presents an average thermal sensitivity of 8.82 ± 0.09 pm/°C, resulting in a typical temperature resolution of ~0.1 °C and an average time constant value of 6.25 ± 0.08 s. Corrosion and degradation resistance were verified by infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy during 90 days exposure to high salinity crude oil samples. The developed sensor was tested in a field pilot test, mimicking the operation of an inland crude tank, demonstrating its abilities to dynamically monitor temperature profile.

Description: The use of beamforming and power control, combined or separately, has advantages and disadvantages, depending on the application. The combined use of beamforming and power control has been shown to be highly effective in applications involving the suppression of interference signals from different sources. However, it is necessary to identify efficient methodologies for the combined operation of these two techniques. The most appropriate technique may be obtained by means of the implementation of an intelligent agent capable of making the best selection between beamforming and power control. The present paper proposes an algorithm using reinforcement learning (RL) to determine the optimal combination of beamforming and power control in sensor arrays. The RL algorithm used was Q-learning, employing an ε-greedy policy, and training was performed using the offline method. The simulations showed that RL was effective for implementation of a switching policy involving the different techniques, taking advantage of the positive characteristics of each technique in terms of signal reception.

Description: We are entering a new era of computing technology, the era of Internet of Things (IoT). An important element for this popularization is the large use of off-the-shelf sensors. Most of those sensors will be deployed by different owners, generally common users, creating what we call the Collaborative IoT. This collaborative IoT helps to increase considerably the amount and availability of collected data for different purposes, creating new interesting opportunities, but also several challenges. For example, it is very challenging to search for and select a desired sensor or a group of sensors when there is no description about the provided sensed data or when it is imprecise. Given that, in this work we characterize the properties of the sensed data in the Internet of Things, mainly the sensed data contributed by several sources, including sensors from common users. We conclude that, in order to safely use data available in the IoT, we need a filtering process to increase the data reliability. In this direction, we propose a new simple and powerful approach that helps to select reliable sensors. We tested our method for different types of sensed data, and the results reveal the effectiveness in the correct selection of sensor data.

Description: This work presents, for the first time, an overview of the rich geodiversity outcropping in the São Tomé island, one of the two islands that make up the archipelago of São Tomé and Príncipe, the second smallest state of Africa in area. Located at the equator, in the alignment known as the “Cameroon Volcanic Line”, this archipelago represents a privileged area for the comparative study between oceanic and continental alkaline volcanism, and therefore between the subcontinental and suboceanic mantle. Ten geosites of São Tomé island were selected, described and evaluated on the basis of their geoheritage value and using a qualitative system of classification, which integrates both the meaning attributed to the objects by scientific communities and the public understanding of such meanings related to its social use. The selected geosites display different heritage values (documental, scenic, symbolic, iconographic and indicial) potentially usable for different purposes, namely scientific and educational, but mostly tourism. Geotourism can play a key role in the promotion of sustainable development in the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, and the geosites here described are likely to ground a geo-itinerary on this “pearl” of the Cameron Line.

Description: Remote Sensing, Vol. 10, Pages 1314: Use of SMOS L3 Soil Moisture Data: Validation and Drought Assessment for Pernambuco State, Northeast Brazil Remote Sensing doi: 10.3390/rs10081314 Authors: Alzira G. S. S. Souza Alfredo Ribeiro Neto Luciana Rossato Regina C. S. Alvalá Laio L. Souza The goal of this study was to validate soil moisture data from Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) using two in situ databases for Pernambuco State, located in Northeast Brazil. The validation process involved two approaches, pixel-station comparison and areal average, for three regions in Pernambuco with different climatic characteristics. After validation, the SMOS data were used for drought assessment by calculating soil moisture anomalies for the available period of data. Four statistical criteria were used to verify the quality of the satellite data: Pearson correlation coefficient, Willmott index of agreement, BIAS, and root mean squared difference (RMSD). The average RMSD calculated from the daily time series in the pixel and the areal assessment were 0.071 m3m−3 and 0.04 m3m−3, respectively. Those values are near to the expected 0.04 m3m−3 accuracy of the SMOS mission. The analysis of soil moisture anomalies enabled the assessment of the dry period between 2012 and 2017 and the identification of regions most impacted by the drought. The driest year for all regions was 2012, when the anomaly values achieved −50% in some regions. The use of SMOS data provided additional information that was used in conjunction with the precipitation data to assess drought periods. This may be particularly relevant for planning in agriculture and supporting decision makers and farmers.

Description: IJERPH, Vol. 15, Pages 820: Detection of the Invasive Mosquito Species Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Portugal International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph15040820 Authors: Hugo Costa Osório Líbia Zé-Zé Maria Neto Sílvia Silva Fátima Marques Ana Sofia Silva Maria João Alves The Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito originating from the Asia-Pacific region. This species is of major concern to public and veterinary health because of its vector role in the transmission of several pathogens, such as chikungunya, dengue, and Zika viruses. In Portugal, a National Vector Surveillance Network (REde de VIgilância de VEctores—REVIVE) is responsible for the surveillance of autochthonous, but also invasive, mosquito species at points of entry, such as airports, ports, storage areas, and specific border regions with Spain. At these locations, networks of mosquito traps are set and maintained under surveillance throughout the year. In September 2017, Ae. albopictus was detected for the first time in a tyre company located in the North of Portugal. Molecular typing was performed, and a preliminary phylogenetic analysis indicated a high similarity with sequences of Ae. albopictus collected in Europe. A prompt surveillance response was locally implemented to determine its dispersal and abundance, and adult mosquitoes were screened for the presence of arboviral RNA. A total of 103 specimens, 52 immatures and 51 adults, were collected. No pathogenic viruses were detected. Despite the obtained results suggest low abundance of the population locally introduced, the risk of dispersal and potential establishment of Ae. albopictus in Portugal has raised concern for autochthonous mosquito-borne disease outbreaks.