Abstract
This paper presents a Multicriteria Decision Aid methodology for planning energy storage and sustainable mobility, in an isolated system. The objective of this research is to enhance the sustainability of the analyzed case study (São Miguel Island), by comparing a set of alternatives for energy storage and sustainable mobility. The alternatives characterization and evaluation is made through the calculation of meaningful attributes, namely: carbon emissions, overall costs and reliability. An analysis of the most interesting alternatives is also performed. © 2011 IEEE.

Abstract
In this work we presented the development of an energy model based on a mixed system of renewable energy, with primary energy sources as solar and biomass. It is a hybrid and autonomous system with solar PV panels and gasification cogeneration technology. Also it is an environment friendly process aiming the reduction of energy demand, costs and emissions. This energy model is a new sustainable standard about energy consumption efficiency (electrical and thermal demands) of a small hotel building and a relevant contribution to certify the building, in compliance with the laws of the country on the thermal performance of buildings.

Abstract
In this paper, we propose a rhythmically informed method for onset detection in polyphonic music. Music is highly structured in terms of the temporal regularity underlying onset occurrences and this rhythmic structure can be used to locate sound events. Using a probabilistic formulation, the method integrates information extracted from the audio signal and rhythmic knowledge derived from tempo estimates in order to exploit the temporal expectations associated with rhythm and make musically meaningful event detections. To do so, the system explicitly models note events in terms of the elapsed time between consecutive events and decodes the most likely sequence of onsets that led to the observed audio signal. In this way, the proposed method is able to identify likely time instants for onsets and to successfully exploit the temporal regularity of music. The goal of this work is to define a general framework to be used in combination with any onset detection function and tempo estimator. The method is evaluated using a dataset of music that contains multiple instruments playing at the same time, including singing and different music genres. Results show that the use of rhythmic information improves the commonly used adaptive thresholding onset detection method which only considers local information. It is also shown that the proposed probabilistic framework successfully exploits rhythmic information using different detection functions and tempo estimation algorithms.

Abstract
Recently there has been a growing interest by the sports' community (educators and coaches) in analyzing efficiently the performance of handball players and teams. The information collected from such analysis is used to better understand the difficulties of trainees, players or even entire teams and formulate adequate training and strategic plans. Usually this evaluation is too self contained and does not explore the many tools there are available nowadays. This paper proposes a simulation tool to tackle this problem and establishes the bases for a Handball Sport Simulator. The simulator developed has its origins on the Soccer Server simulator used on the RoboCup competition and includes the main handball game rules and player actions. This paper establishes the ground foundations for a Handball Simulator and results show that the handball rules and actions can be modeled.

Abstract
The autonomy of blind people in their daily life depends on their knowledge of the surrounding world, and they are aided, by keen senses and assistive devices that help them to deduce their surroundings. Existing solutions require that users carry a wide range of devices and, mostly, do not include mechanisms to ensure the autonomy of users in the event of system failure. This paper presents the nav4b system that combines guidance and navigation with object's recognition, extending traditional aids (white cane and smartphone). A working prototype was installed on the UTAD campus to perform experiments with blind users.

Abstract
The constant search of industry for productivity raises and market shares, pushes forward the development of new products capable of giving an answer to these concerns. Specifically the tool-machines makers have tried to solve these problems incrementing the capability of the machines they produce, essentially in speed and precision. The recent study of some problems associated to the machining process, has revealed the possibility of incrementing the productivity of some of vertical milling machine, only through the force control, keeping it constant and equal to the optimum value defined for the tool. The cutting force control, due to the system characteristics, can only be implemented by making use of adaptive control. In order to implement adaptive controllers we have at our disposal two technologies that have been showing good results. These technologies are Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic. We thought that it would be of interest to research the use of Artificial Neural Networks in implementation of a controller. This has been the objective for the development of the work described in this paper. The results obtained have been encouraging, showing the possibility of implementing those controllers in real systems.