Abstract
One of the major challenges for healthcare professionals in the XXI century is the increasing number of elderly in the world population. It is clearly important to find ways to stimulate cognitively this population, helping them to develop strategies and maintaining independency in their daily life activities. Conventional cognitive stimulation is time consuming task often causing discomfort in patients. Computer based tools may be used to perform cognitive stimulation and improve transferability in a setting that does not increase anxiety in individuals. This paper aims to present a pilot study of automatic platforms to enhance the cognitive process for older adults in order to promote an active aging.

Abstract
The formation of chemically etched optical fiber for use in refractive index sensor is addressed. This presented design of a refractive index (RI) sensor is based on recording the power loss exhibited by radiation propagating through an etched multimode fiber (MMF) immersed in the liquid under study. The decreasing diameters of fibers are found to be strongly dependent on the temperature and etchant composition. This experiment was performed for different unclad etched fibers for same sensing length and the RI changes from 1.33 RIU to 1.38 RIU. When the multimode fiber (MMF) is etched for 12 hours the sensitivity of the sensor is approximately 204.25dBm/RIU, which is larger than without etched fiber having sensitivity 127.2dBm/RIU. © 2016 Author(s).

Abstract
Hierarchical time series is a first order of importance topic. Effectively, there are several applications where time series can be naturally disaggregated in a hierarchical structure using attributes such as geographical location, product type, etc. Power networks face interesting problems related to its transition to computer-aided grids. Data can be naturally disaggregated in a hierarchical structure, and there is the possibility to look for both single and aggregated points along the grid. Along this work, we applied different hierarchical forecasting methods to them. Three different approaches are compared, two common approaches, bottom-up approach, top-down approach and another one based on the hierarchical structure of data, the optimal regression combination. The evaluation considers short-term forecasting (24-h ahead). Additionally,we discussed the importance associated to the correlation degree among series to improve forecasting accuracy. Our results demonstrated that the hierarchical approach outperforms bottom-up approach at intermediate/high levels. At lower levels, it presents a superior performance in less homogeneous substations, i. e. for the substations linked to different type of customers. Additionally, its performance is comparable to the top-down approach at top levels. This approach revealed to be an interesting tool for hierarchical data analysis. It allows to achieve a good performance at top levels as the top-down approach and at same time it allows to capture series dynamics at bottom levels as the bottom-up. © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016.

Abstract
Model-based learning is a teaching methodology that facilitates the learning process through the construction of models, which represent the conceptual models taught in geosciences lessons, promoting the construction of students’ scientific knowledge and the development of a meaningful learning. It is crucial that teachers know how to apply it in schools in order to support students’ learning process, but also because models are important tools for dissemination of science concepts. Having this in mind, it becomes relevant, beyond the analysis of its importance for both teaching and disseminating geosciences in Portuguese high schools, to provide some guidelines and recommendations about the use of models in geosciences teaching, based on the literature, seeking to prepare teachers to apply the methodology in science lessons and for making them more informed about the importance of dissemination of science. To achieve this purpose, the attitudes of Portuguese high school students towards the importance of model-based learning in teaching and disseminating the dependence of earthquakes effects on soils and buildings were analysed. The data were collected through a scale for model evaluation named Seismological Models’ Evaluation Scale (SMES), applied to 126 students who participated in Faculty of Sciences’ Open Days to Schools. This instrument was validated by two experts in geosciences teaching, and its fidelity was also determined. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.

Abstract
This paper develops a theoretical model to define tourism destination brand's online content. Message strategies and positioning attributes that brands want to communicate are the main inputs to develop communication content. However, the relationship between message strategies and attributes has not been studied in the literature. Our research examines this relationship, using 400 online brochures from around the world. Based on the positioning attributes and message strategies, a taxonomy is developed to analyse online brochures through content analysis. A comprehensive benchmark model was designed to assist tourism destination managers and advertisers while planning the concept and production of their online tourism brochures, and a new creative methodology based on several workable strategic alternatives are proposed.

Abstract
Contemporary urban transportation networks are facing challenges to address the growing needs of mobility, all the while improving their economic gains and environmental sustainability. Several studies demonstrate that competitive alternatives to individual private transport are able to address these challenges, such as public transportation services. Thus, the need for optimising their operational efficiency and offer user-centric service delivery arises, with a range of challenges related to the inherent complexity of urban transportation networks as well as the range of dynamic elements involved in such systems. An innovative approach to this problem leverages personal mobile devices in combination with collaborative exchange of information. In this study a system was developed to combine information provided by travellers with data from public transport operators. The result is a rich model of the transportation network that enables the distribution of information in a personalized way and in real-time: the Seamless Mobility solution. Large-scale and expensive infrastructures, such as existing ticketing systems, constitute a threat to such flexibility and traveller access to services. As a result, a distributed architecture was targeted with the goal of integrating personal mobile devices in the infrastructure, with benefits for travellers and transport operators. The proposed solution integrates a broad scope of challenges, including application of secure mobile payments methods, data aggregation from different components and distribution based on relevance techniques. With the implementation of this solution we expect to positively impact the way travellers and transport operators interact, and contribute towards mobility services that are more agile and adequate, taking into account that mobility patterns vary from person to person, seasonally, and even throughout a day. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.