Abstract
A previously reported fluorescein-based dye containing a catechol unit showed high sensitivity to Fe(III) at physiological pH, but also undesirable pH sensitivity, mainly due to the lower pK(a) values of the phenolic hydroxyl groups of the fluorescein core. Aiming to synthesize compounds that interact with metal ions at physiological pH, exhibiting no pH sensitivity, we designed two novel fluorescent compounds by assembling, through amide linkage, a rhodamine fluorophore with two selected chelating moieties, catechol and 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone, both possessing high affinity for Fe(III) but distinct pK(a) values. The fluorescent compounds were prepared using straightforward synthetic protocols and characterized by NMR, mass spectrometry and electronic spectroscopy (UV-Vis and fluorescence) and one of the compounds was also characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The results reveal that, while the fluorescent 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone derivative exhibits a significant dependence of fluorescence emission with increasing pH, due to the pK(a) values arising from the 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone residue, the fluorescent catechol ligand responds mainly to interactions with metal ions, preferentially to Fe(III), showing less sensitivity to pH than the related ligands over the pH range 3-8, fact that is relevant concerning the application of this compound as an ion sensor in biological media.

Abstract
Microbial resistance to antibiotics is one of the biggest public health threats of the modem world. Antibiotic resistance is an area of much clinical relevance and therefore research that has the potential to identify agents that may circumvent it or treat resistant infections is paramount. Solution behavior of various fluoroquinolone (FQ) complexes with copper(II) in the presence and absence of 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) was studied in aqueous solution, by potentiometry and/or spectrophotometiy, and are herein described. The results obtained showed that under physiological conditions (micromolar concentration range and pH 7.4) only copper(II):FQ:phen ternary complexes are stable. Hence, these complexes were synthesised and characterised by means of UV-visible and IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In these complexes, the FQ acts as a bidentate ligand that coordinates the metal cation through the carbonyl and carboxyl oxygen atoms and phen coordinates through two N-atoms forming the equatorial plane of a distorted square-pyramidal geometry. The fifth position of the penta-coordinated Cu(II) centre is generally occupied axially by an oxygen atom from a water molecule or from a nitrate ion. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determinations of the complexes and comparison with free FQ in various E. coil strains indicate that the Cu-complexes are as efficient antimicrobials as the free antibiotic. Moreover, results strongly suggest that the cell intake route of both species is different supporting, therefore, the complexes' suitability as candidates for further biological testing in FQ-resistant microorganisms.

Abstract
This paper proposes a new, fast and computationally light weight methodology to pinpoint a robot in a structured scenario. The localisation algorithm performs a tracking routine to pinpoint the robot's pose as it moves in a known map, without the need for preparing the environment, with artificial landmarks or beacons. To perform such tracking routine, it is necessary to know the initial position of the vehicle. This paper describes the tracking routine and presents a solution to pinpoint that initial position in an autonomous way, using a multi-hypotheses strategy. This paper presents experimental results on the performance of the proposed method applied in two different scenarios: (1) in the Middle Size Soccer Robotic League (MSL), using artificial vision data from an omnidirectional robot and (2) in indoor environments using 3D data from a tilting Laser Range Finder of a differential drive robot (called RobVigil). This paper presents results comparing the proposed methodology and an Industrial Positioning System (the Sick NAV350), commonly used to locate Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs) with a high degree of accuracy in industrial environments.

Abstract
The sports community needs technological aid to extract accurate statistics and performance data from both practice sessions and games. To obtain such information, players must be tracked over time and their movements processed so that individual actions and team plays are simultaneously analyzed. In order to perform this analysis in an automated, formal and accurate way, the authors developed a cost conscientious processing system fed by two overhead cameras (roughly one video stream for each half-field). Players are detected by vest colors, and Fuzzy Logic is used to allow for a given color to be shared by different teams. Color models for the background and the teams are dynamic over time to make up for changes in natural lighting conditions and consequent color changes. Player tracking is further enhanced using Kalman Filtering. Some examples of the analysis, made possible by the proposed system, are shown. Results are based on videos collected during the Portuguese Handball SuperCup competition for the year 2011.

Abstract
The adoption of NAO humanoid robots in the RoboCup Standard Platform League (SPL) broguht a new set of challenges on this league on the computer vision area. This paper presents a new color indexing mode and a study of the impact of the reduction of the color spectrum, to be processed on the classification, segmentation and object detection, in a NAO robot, playing on the SPL league. The experiments were performed in the context of the Portuguese Team concluding that a 21 bit look-up table may replace the current 24 bit table used.

Abstract
Massification of higher education institution promotes the importance of peer education and team work as important educational tools. As such, teams frequently produce several deliverables that should be organized and evaluated throughout a given course. Some submissions should then be attributed to the team rather than the individual and searching for a given type of deliverable from a given team becomes an important concern in terms of organization and ease of usage in evaluating assignments. The course "Projeto FEUP", used as case study and surely many others benefit from an at-least partially automated production of an organized set of all deliverables from a given course in a given year - a course portfolio, a task made easier by the usage of the presented ideas and the prototype implemented in the Moodle Learning Management System. This article shows details of the implementation and the lessons learned. The prototype was tested in the mentioned test course that has about one thousand students enrolled and a course portfolio was successfully created.