Abstract
Aging is a process inherent to the human condition and part of the human being’s life cycle, which can be degraded by the reduction in the individual’s physical and social activity. This problem can be augmented by the context in which the person is aging, e.g., family, health and social bonds. The elderly individuals’ well-being is related to the strength of their social bonds with their family and friends group, which can be difficult to maintain in some stages of the aging process. A, recently- proposed solution is the adoption of autonomous systems capable of autonomous interactions with the elderly. Such systems are designed to be able to interpret the individual’s state of mind and the current context in order to conduct an effective interaction with the elderly person. This study focuses on the interaction design between the autonomous system and the human person, by considering the elderly individual’s context and pursuing the type of interaction that will positively influence the reinforcement or maintenance of the person’s social bonds with the family and friends groups. The study was carried out by interviewing a group of elderly people, currently living in nursing homes and with limited access to their family and friends.

Abstract
This study reports the Portuguese contribution to an international survey on data literacy of academics and researchers are presented in this study. The community contributed with 943 filled questionnaire, covering key aspects related to the use and production of research data (e.g. file type and volume of data created and used; the choice of data storage devices and the creation of metadata on research data, among others). Also considered were the use of Data Management Plan and data management practices (e.g. file naming, citation rules, use of unique identifiers and tags), as also sharing of research data. Based on the results, it is concluded that there is a need to formulate institutional policies for the management of scientific data and to design training initiatives to develop data literacy skills. The comparing of these results with those of the overall international study is a next step.

Abstract
This work presents a multi-criteria classification system considering multiple, conflicting and incommensurate evaluation aspects influencing energy efficiency in school buildings. The multi-criteria ELECTRE TRI method is used to classify energy performance of school buildings into categories of merit using the IRIS software. The alternatives under evaluation are assigned to predefined ordered categories according to their absolute performance and not in comparison with the performance of other alternatives. Each alternative is assessed using reference profiles defming the boundaries of the categories in which the alternatives should be sorted. The model was applied using a set of performance indicators obtained in the framework of a research and development project aimed at assessing the energy performance of a sample of Portuguese school buildings. IRIS allowed inferring robust conclusions by indicating the range of categories for each alternative, considering the decision maker's preferences, captured by the parameters of ELECTRE TRI. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Abstract

Abstract
This paper presents a study for a fibre optic sensor based on quantum wires to detect and measure the amplitude and direction of a static electric field. This study is supported by the analogy of the fluid equations describing the free electrons in the quantum wires and the Madelung formalism of Quantum Mechanics. In this context, it is possible to construct a diatomic plasmonic molecule whose energy levels can be Stark shifted by an external electric field and readout using a light beam tuned to the Rabi oscillations of these levels. Choosing the adequate design parameters it is possible to estimate a sensitivity of 100nm/NC-1.

Abstract
An intrinsic intensity modulated no core fiber sensor (NCFS) is presented in this paper for rapid detection of adulteration in petrol with kerosene. The sensing principle is based on the phenomenon of absorption of evanescent waves. The sensing head of NCFS is fabricated by stubbing a small section of no core fiber (NCF) between two multi-mode fibers (MMF). A high sensitivity 390 nW/% and 110 nW/% are obtained by the proposed sensor for low and high level of adulteration. The intensity variation and confinement loss with different concentrations of the kerosene in petrol are then verified theoretically by using finite element method. It is found that the theoretical results agree very well with experimental results. The proposed sensor exhibits fast response time and good repeatability in addition to its high sensitivity. The sensor can be useful in industries and automotive companies due to its small size, easy to fabricate, safe with inflammable fuels and required small amount for detection. © 2017 Elsevier GmbH