Abstract
Water and energy balance interactions with vegetation in mountainous terrain are influenced by topographic effects, spatial variation in vegetation type and density, and water availability. This is the case for the mountainous areas of northern Portugal, where ancestral irrigated meadows (lameiros) are a main component of a complex vegetation mosaic. The widely used surface energy balance model METRIC was applied to four Landsat images to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of the energy balance terms in the identified land cover types (LCT). A discussion on the variability of evapotranspiration (ET) through the various vegetation types was supported by a comparison between the respective crop coefficients and those available in the literature corresponding to the LC, which has shown the appropriateness of METRIC estimates of ET. METRIC products derived from images of May and June - NDVI, surface temperature, net radiation, soil heat flux, sensible heat flux, and ET - were used to characterize the LCTs, through application of principal component analysis. Three principal components explained the variance of observed variables and their varimax rotated loadings allowed a good explanation of the behaviour of the explanatory variables in association with the LCTs. Information gained contributes to improve the characterization of the study area and may further support conservation and management of these mountain landscapes.

Abstract
The conformational preferences of a series of hydroxylated isoflavones were studied by optical vibrational spectroscopy (FTIR and Raman) coupled with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Special attention was paid to the effect of the hydroxyl substitution, due to the importance of this group in the biological activity of these systems. The isoflavones investigated - daidzein, genistein and formononetin - were shown to exist in distinct conformations in the solid state, namely regarding the orientation of the hydroxylic groups at C-7 and within the catechol moiety, that are determinant factors for their conformational behaviour and antioxidant ability. In the light of the most stable conformers obtained for each molecule, a complete assignment of their experimental vibrational spectra was performed.

Abstract
The conformational preferences of a series of hydroxyflavones were studied by Raman and FTIR spectroscopies, coupled to Density Functional Theory calculations. Special attention was paid to the effect of hydroxyl substitution, due to its importance on the biological activity of these compounds. Their conformational preferences were found to be determined mainly by the orientation of the hydroxylic groups at C-7 and within the catechol moiety, leading to the occurrence of distinct conformers in the solid state. A complete assignment of the experimental spectra was carried out for these molecules, in the light of their most stable conformers and the corresponding predicted vibrational pattern.

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract
In this paper, a new fast and computationally light weight methodology is proposed to pinpoint a robot in a structured scenario. The localisation algorithm performs a tracking routine to pinpoint the robot's position as it moves in a known map. To perform such tracking routine, it is necessary to know the initial position of the vehicle. This paper briefly describes the tracking routine and presents a solution to pinpoint that initial position in an autonomous way. Experimental results on the performance of the proposed methodology are presented in this paper in two different scenarios: 1) in the Middle Size Soccer Robotic League (MSL), with artificial vision data from an omni directional robot, and 2) in an indoor environment with a Laser Range Finder data from a differential traction robot (called Robot Vigil). © 2012 IEEE.