Abstract
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is an infectious agent that attacks the immune system cells. Without a strong immune system, the body becomes very susceptible to serious life threatening opportunistic diseases. In spite of the great progresses on medication and prevention over the last years, HIV infection continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed more than 36 million lives over the last 35 years since the recognition of the disease. Monitoring, through registries, of HIV-AIDS cases is vital to assess general health care needs and to support long-term health-policy control planning. Surveillance systems are therefore established in almost all developed countries. Typically, this is a complex system depending on several stakeholders, such as health care providers, the general population and laboratories, which challenges an efficient and effective reporting of diagnosed cases. One issue that often arises is the administrative delay in reports of diagnosed cases. This paper aims to identify the main factors influencing reporting delays of HIV-AIDS cases within the portuguese surveillance system. The used methodologies included multilayer artificial neural networks (MLP), naive bayesian classifiers (NB), support vector machines (SVM) and the k-nearest neighbor algorithm (KNN). The highest classification accuracy, precision and recall were obtained for MLP and the results suggested homogeneous administrative and clinical practices within the reporting process. Guidelines for reductions of the delays should therefore be developed nationwise and transversally to all stakeholders.

Abstract
Dysfunction problems with vascular access are a concern to patients and dialysis units. The vascular surgeon should analyse such dysfunction and perform a careful assessment of the vascular network in order to find new fistula layouts. We introduce and discuss the case of creation of a radiocephalic fistula with outflow into the forearm basilic vein through rotation of the forearm basilic vein toward the cephalic vein in the forearm of an 88-year-old hemodialysis male patient. This technique enables extending fistula patency and improves cost efficiency.

Abstract

Abstract
This paper aims to evaluate the performance of a semi-active controlled suspension system using a magneto-rheological (MR) damper to provide better ride comfort and safety to vehicle passengers than an uncontrolled or passive suspension system. Passive systems represent a conventional solution for vibration control of suspension systems. Although this system is a proven, reliable and economic technology, their parameters cannot be modified according to the road conditions. On the other hand, active systems allow a continuous control of the suspension motion, but require a complex and energy demanding actuator. The proposed suspension system has the adaptability of active systems with lower energy consumption, which constitute an economic and efficient option for vibration control in vehicle suspensions. The analysis was carried out with a set of numerical simulations in Matlab/Simulink using a 1/4 vehicle suspension model with two degrees of freedom for a passive system and two semiactive control modes based on fuzzy and optimal controllers.

Abstract

Abstract
Cognitive robots have started to find their way into manufacturing halls. However, the full potential of these robots can only be exploited through an integration into the automation pyramid so that the system is able to communicate with the manufacturing execution system (MES). Integrating the robot with the MES allows the robot to get access to manufacturing environment and process data so that it can perform its task without human intervention. This paper describe the mobile robotic manipulator developed in the EU project STAMINA, its has been integrated with an existing MES and its application in a kitting task from the automotive industry.