Abstract
The work presented in this paper describes the development of a decision support system based on a discrete event simulation model. The model is aimed at a specific class of production lines with a four closed-loop network configuration of automobile assembly and preassembly lines connected by conveyors. The total number of pallets on the conveyors (which also act as intermediate buffers) remains constant, except for the fourth loop, which depends on the four-door car ratio implemented between the door disassembly and assembly stations of the car body. Some governing equations of the four closed loops are incompatible with the capacities of several intermediate buffers for certain values of the four-door car ratio. The simulation model can be used to assess the impact of variation in the length of the conveyors (hence, the size of the intermediate buffers) on the performance of the line. In addition, this paper also presents a proposal for the alteration of the length of the intermediate buffers that can maximise the performance of the production line and improve the availability of the manufacturing system for any value of four-door car ratio.

Abstract
A forecast model for estimating the annual variation in regional olive crop yield has been developed during the years 1998 to 2006 for the Alentejo region (south Portugal). This model was estimated hierarchically along three different in-season stages: i) flowering, considering only the regional airborne pollen index; ii) fruit growth with the addition of a plant water-stress index; iii) fruit maturing with the addition of a phytopathological index. Appropriated statistical tests indicated that the regional airborne pollen index accounted for 64% of the inter-annual olive yield variability with an average deviation between observed and predicted production of 16%. The addition of the variable plant water-stress index to the forecasting model allowed an increase in its accuracy of 27% while the phytopathological index allowed an increase of 6%. The final bioclimatic model, with all the three variables tested, explained 97% of the regional olive fruit yield being the average deviation between observed and predicted production of 4% for the internal validation of the model and of 9% for the external validation. The hierarchical structure of this bioclimatic model, along three different development stages, enabled an update along the growing season.

Abstract

Abstract
Future public transportation systems will provide broadband access to passengers, carrying legacy terminals with 802.11 connectivity. Passengers will be able to communicate with the Internet and with each other, while connected to 802.11 Access Points deployed in vehicles and bus stops/metro stations, and without requiring special mobility or routing protocols to run in their terminals. Existing solutions, such as 802.11s and OLSR, are not efficient and do not scale to large networks, thereby requiring the network to be segmented in many small areas, causing the terminals to change IP address when moving between areas. This paper presents WiMetroNet, a large mesh network of mobile routers (Rbridges) operating at layer 2.5 over heterogeneous wireless technologies. This architecture contains an efficient user plane that optimizes the transport of DHCP and ARP traffic, and provides a transparent terminal mobility solution using techniques that minimize the routing overhead for large networks. We offer two techniques to reduce routing overhead associated with terminal mobility. One approach is based on TTL-limited flooding of a routing message and on the concept of forwarding packets only to the vicinity of the last known location of the terminal, and then forward the packets to a new location of the terminal. The other technique lets the network remain unaware for a very long time that the terminal has moved; only when packets arrive at the old PoA does the PoA send back a "binding update" message to the correspondent node, to correct the route for future packets for the same terminal. Simulation and analytical results are presented, and the routing protocol is shown to scale to large networks with good user plane results, namely packet delivery rate, delay, and handover interruption time.

Abstract
Pollen morphology and quality of 20 olive cultivars grown in Portugal were analysed and multivariate statistical analysis was performed in order to group the cultivars with similar characteristics. The morphology was analysed by scanning electron microscopy and the quality was evaluated through pollen viability and in vitro germination. Pollen grains from the studied cultivars were elliptical, subprolate or prolate spheroidal with an average size (22x20 mu m), 3- zonocolpate for the majority of cultivars but 3-zonocolporate for three of the cultivars studied. Pollen viability varied between 76% ('Verdeal de Tras-os- Montes') to 6% ('Madural') and the germination varied between 65% ('Verdeal de Tras-os-Montes') and 2% ('Conserva de Elvas'). Hierarchical cluster analysis based on all characteristics analysed, showed an organization into three groups composed by cultivars with similar pollen morphometry characteristics and percentages of pollen viability and in vitro germination. Our results indicate that the highest values of olive pollen viability and germination are associated with highest average values of pollen exine reticulum thickness and diameter.

Abstract
This chapter addresses up-to-date research development regarding the adoption of more natural forms of interaction in the Serious Games for Rehabilitation domain of application. The chapter starts by presenting fundamental concepts on Serious Games illustrated by relevant applications. It describes the main problems involved and how Serious Games can benefit the process of rehabilitation. A comprehensive literature survey is presented and accompanied by a proposed set of classification criteria towards a taxonomy. From this study, a main research opportunity the authors identified is the potential benefits of the adoption of natural interaction modalities. The remainder of the chapter presents the authors' recent work on this subject, including the description and design of game prototypes using alternative and natural interaction modalities. The chapter presents experiments and the results of a user study in order to make it possible to conclude about the benefits of the newer forms of interaction. From this study, it was concluded that the introduction of the natural interaction modalities has increased the attractiveness and intuitiveness of the prototyped Serious Game. This important result is a motivating factor to improve the interaction mechanisms and conduct studies with distinct tasks and larger samples of users/patients. Lastly, the authors report identified research opportunities and open problems. © 2012, IGI Global.