Abstract
This paper addresses the problem of decision making in the context of financial markets, more specifically, the problem of forecasting the correct trading action for a certain future horizon. We study and compare two alternative ways of addressing these forecasting tasks: (a) using standard numeric prediction models to forecast the variation on the prices of the target asset and, on a second stage, transform these numeric predictions into a decision according to some predefined decision rules; and (b) use models that directly forecast the right decision thus ignoring the intermediate numeric forecasting task. The objective of our study is to determine if both strategies provide identical results or if there is any particular advantage worth being considered that may distinguish each alternative in the context of financial markets.

Abstract
Deaf people face serious communication problems. The use of smartphones has been explored as a solution for breaking communication barriers and enhancing their communication, by providing access to basic services. This paper explores the usage of iconographic interfaces in smartphones as a means for contributing to further autonomy for deaf people. We applied the model for asynchronous and non-verbal communication through iconographic and interactive flows to develop the MyCarMobile application, a travel assistance android mobile application for deaf people. Our research explores a solution which enables travel assistance services without involving audio, using an iconographic interface to report road accidents. A user centered design approach was applied in the development of the prototype and usability tests were performed with eleven deaf users, in order to validate the mobile application. The results revealed a good performance and user satisfaction when interacting with the application.

Abstract
Context. Canary is the multi-object adaptive optics (MOAO) on-sky pathfinder developed in the perspective of multi-object spectrograph on extremely large telescopes (ELTs). In 2013, Canary was operated on-sky at the William Herschel telescope (WHT), using three off-axis natural guide stars (NGS) and four off-axis Rayleigh laser guide stars (LGS), in open-loop, with the on-axis compensated turbulence observed with a H-band imaging camera and a Truth wave-front sensor (TS) for diagnostic purposes. Aims. Our purpose is to establish a reliable and accurate wave-front error breakdown for LGS MOAO. This will enable a comprehensive analysis of Canary on-sky results and provide tools for validating simulations of MOAO systems for ELTs. Methods. To evaluate the MOAO performance, we compared the Canary on-sky results running in MOAO, in single conjugated adaptive optics (SCAO) and in ground layer adaptive optics (GLAO) modes, over a large set of data acquired in 2013. We provide a statistical study of the seeing. We also evaluated the wave-front error breakdown from both analytic computations, one based on a MOAO system modelling and the other on the measurements from the Canary TS. We have focussed especially on the tomographic error and we detail its vertical error decomposition. Results. We show that Canary obtained 30.1%, 21.4% and 17.1% H-band Strehl ratios in SCAO, MOAO and GLAO respectively, for median seeing conditions with 0.66? of total seeing including 0.59? at the ground. Moreover, we get 99% of correlation over 4500 samples, for any AO modes, between two analytic computations of residual phase variance. Based on these variances, we obtain a reasonable Strehl-ratio (SR) estimation when compared to the measured IR image SR. We evaluate the gain in compensation for the altitude turbulence brought by MOAO when compared to GLAO.

Abstract
Purpose: The aim of this study is to validate the current applicability of arteriovenous access banding in high flow access (HFA) and/or haemodialysis access-induced distal ischaemia (HAIDI). Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the GEV (Grupo de Estudos Vasculares) vascular access centre. The clinical records of consecutive patients undergoing banding for HAIDI and HFA symptoms, between June 2011 and January 2015, were reviewed until April 2015. All vascular access patients' consultation records and surgical notes were reviewed. We analysed and compared patients' age, gender, comorbidities, symptoms and intraoperative ultrasound control. We defined technical failure as recurrence of symptoms, requiring new banding. Excessive banding, access thrombosis, rupture and false aneurysm development were registered as complications. Primary clinical success was defined as improvement of symptoms or effective flow reduction after banding, with no need for reintervention. If one reintervention was necessary, we have defined it as secondary clinical success. Results: Overall, 119 patients underwent banding: 64 (54%) with HAIDI and 55 (46%) with HFA. The HAIDI group was significantly older (65 +/- 13 years compared with 56 +/- 22 years, p = 0.001) and had significantly greater number of patients with diabetes (56% vs 24%, p = 0.004). Primary success was achieved in 85 patients (71.4%) and the secondary success rate was 84.9%. Older age (p = 0.016) and intraoperative ultrasound control (p = 0.012) were significantly associated with primary success. Conclusions: Our results do not corroborate the high incidence of thrombosis previously reported as associated with AV access banding and suggest that ultrasound control is crucial for preventing technical failure. The procedure was effective on both compared groups.

Abstract
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become a prominent research field due to their vast applicability and reduced size. An appealing aspect of theUAVs is the ability to accomplish autonomous flights in several contexts and purposes, and a variety of applications have been developed, from military to civilian fields. The system proposed in this work is a novel and simplified interaction between the user and the UAV for autonomous flight, where the necessary computation is performed in an embedded computer, decreasing response time and eliminating the necessity of long-distance communication links with base stations. Results are presented with both hardware in the loop simulations and a real UAV using Pixhawk, and Odroid and ROS as companion computer and software platform for code development. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017.

Abstract
This special issue of Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP) contains the regular papers accepted for presentation at the 33rd International Conference on Logic Programming (ICLP 2017), held in Melbourne, Australia from the 28th of August to the 1st of September, 2017. ICLP 2017 was colocated with the 23rd International Conference on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (CP 2017) and the 20th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing (SAT 2017). Since the first conference held in Marseille in 1982, ICLP has been the premier international event for presenting research in logic programming.