Abstract
Aging is a natural process that progressively introduces limitations in a person's life, which can have dramatic effects on the person's lifestyle and wellbeing and in most cases is related to the strength of the person's social bonds with the family and friends group. Therefore, it is important to maintain these bonds in the various stages of life, especially in the later life, when the individual has health limitations and may be living in a care centre. In this work, we developed an exploratory approach to the usage of ICT systems in order to autonomy assist the elderly in maintaining their social connections and relationships with family and friends. It doesn't substitutes the human care, but it should assist and encourage the elderly to preserve and develop their social activities and the relationships with their family and friends social group. We propose the design of a software system, capable of running in autonomous devices, such as, robots and other consumer appliances, enabling them to recognize and interact with the users, according to their state of mind and the specific current moment context. The interactions should be simple and focused on keeping the users engaged and informed about the current life events of their family and friends, and create the opportunities for the users to interact with the participants of those events by creating interaction proposals. On a technical level, the system should have knowledge about the user and be able to acquire and update context information from social media, video cameras, email, etc, regarding the user and the persons from his family and friends groups, in order to develop meaningful interactions with the user. An adaptive user interface would present and manage the interactions, acting as a mediator between the user and his family and friends group.

Abstract
Unknown input observers (UIO) can be used in the model-based fault diagnosis (FD) system to reduce or eliminate the effect of unknown disturbances present on the process and used to create a set of residuals that are decoupled and sensitive to faults. In this work, a new FD scheme of the In-Wheel motors electric vehicle (IWM-EV) with active front steering was carried out, as well as the design of the fault isolation banks of UIOs. These banks are used to generate residuals that are robust againts to noise and are sensitive to only one fault. This way the faults in the steering or in-wheel actuator are detected and isolated with a higher rate of accuracy. The proposed FD scheme is verified by Carsim® and Matlab/Simulink® cosimulation. © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, London.

Abstract
Automated assessment is an essential part of eLearning. Although comparatively easy for multiple choice questions (MCQs), automated assessment is more challenging when exercises involve languages used in computer science. In this particular case, the assessment is more than just grading and must include feedback that leads to the improvement of the students’ performance. This paper presents ongoing work to develop Kora, an automated diagram assessment tool with enhanced feedback, targeted to the multiple diagrammatic languages used in computer science. Kora builds on the experience gained with previous research, namely: a diagram assessment tool to compute di erences between graphs; an IDE inspired web learning environment for computer science languages; and an extensible web diagram editor. Kora has several features to enhance feedback: it distinguishes syntactic and semantic errors, providing specialized feedback in each case; it provides progressive feedback disclosure, controlling the quality and quantity shown to each student after a submission; when possible, it integrates feedback within the diagram editor showing actual nodes and edges on the editor itself. © Hélder Correia, José Paulo Leal, and José Carlos Paiva

Abstract
Ambient Intelligence has always been associated with the promise of exciting new applications, aware of the users' needs and state, and proactive towards their goals. However, the acquisition of the necessary information for supporting such high-level learning and decision-making processes is not always straightforward. In this chapter we describe a multi-faceted smart environment for the acquisition of relevant contextual information about its users. This information, acquired transparently through the technological devices in the environment, supports the building of high-level knowledge about the users, including a quantification of aspects such as performance, attention, mental fatigue and stress. The environment described is particularly suited for milieus such as workplaces and classrooms, in which this kind of information may be very important for the effective management of human resources, with advantages for organizations and individuals alike. © 2017 The authors and IOS Press.

Abstract
In response to recent calls for further cross-disciplinary research on austerity and a deeper sociological understanding of the impact and aftermath of the economic crisis on individuals and societies, this article builds on extant austerity literature through an exploration of its effects on European men. Informed by theories of liminality and rites of passage, this qualitative investigation examines the experience of austerity from the perspective of 11 men through the three liminal stages of separation, transition and reaggregation and investigates its impact on their identity, responsibilities and expectations. Our findings reveal the negative experiences of alienation and outsiderhood alongside positive experiences of communitas, solidarity and comradeship. The study provides a nuanced understanding of modern male Europeans and their rites of passage' through austere times.

Abstract
Applying model-based testing to interactive systems enables the systematic testing of the system by automatically simulating user actions on the user interface. It reduces the cost of (expensive) user testing by identifying implementations errors without the involvement of human users, but raises a number of specific challenges, such as how to achieve good coverage of the actual use of the system during the testing process. This paper describes TOM, a model-based testing framework that uses a combination of tools and mutation testing techniques to maximize testing of user interface behaviors.