Abstract
Analyzing the persistence of the innovative activities can improve the understanding of firm dynamics, forecast the effectiveness of different policy actions, reinforce innovation cycles and promote sustainable and responsible innovation ecosystems. Innovation persistence was empirically analyzed for innovation leaders or even followers; still the literature fails to provide evidence for moderate innovators. The present article appraises the innovative strategy of firms operating in this context and their attitudes towards persistence, controlling for firm characteristics such as size, sector, R&D exenditures and human capital intensity. To do so, a balanced panel was built, encompassing three waves of the Portuguese Community Innovation Survey (CIS), (2004 to 2010) including 1099 firms from different areas. The estimation of the random effects probit model, evidenced that persistence hypothesis fails to be corroborated, evidencing no time dependent innovation strategies. Such result suggests that innovation policy programs do not have long-lasting effect on innovative behavior of firms and it is unlikely that incumbent past innovators be the drivers of creative accumulation and future innovation. There is, however, some evidence that new, smaller, innovators might lead the creative wave. In this vein, there might be a rational to encourage public policies targeting start-up firms and new market entrants when innovation is the main primary funding goal. © 2020 Society of Sytematic Innovation.

Abstract
This paper presents the results of the experimental tests performed to validate the functionality of a variable pitch system (VPS), designed for pitch attitude control of the novel underwater robotic vehicle explorer UX-1. The VPS is composed of a mass suspended from a central rod mounted across the hull. This mass is rotated around the transverse axis of the vehicle in order to perform a change in the inclination angle for navigation in vertical mine shafts. In this work, the equations of motion are first derived with a quaternion attitude representation, and are then extended to include the dynamics of the VPS. The performance of the VPS is demonstrated in real underwater experimental tests that validate the pitch angle control independently, and coupled with the heave motion control system.

Abstract
In spite of the increasing attention being paid to short food supply chains (SFSCs), research in the area is still scarce, particularly in Portugal. Thus, based on a case study in Viseu Dao Lathes Region (VDLR), we intend to identify and discuss (emphasizing potentialities and constraints) the movement of SFSCs in the region. This case study is based on document analysis and interviews with agrifood baskets' promotors. On the one hand, the results show the wide variety of SFSCs that exist in the region and the emergence of new forms of SFSCs like the agrifood baskets. On the other hand, the empirical research also emphasizes the environmental, economic, and sociocultural benefits of SFSCs that will have a positive impact on the well-being of producers, consumers, and/or on the whole region. However, the interviews have also exposed a (certain) limitation in terms of communication and marketing that may constraint these initiatives. From a practical point of view, it became clear that producers must do their best to develop their communication and marketing strategies; from a political point of view, local authorities should provide the necessary assistance to help implement training programmes and develop suitable communication and marketing skills.

Abstract

Abstract
The Sequential Monte Carlo Simulation (SMCS) is a powerful and flexible method commonly used for generating system adequacy assessment. By sampling outage events in sequence and their respective duration, this method can easily incorporate time-dependent issues such as renewable power production, the capacity of hydro units, scheduled maintenance, complex correlated load models, etc, and is the only method that provides probability distributions for the reliability indexes. Despite these advantages, the SMCS method requires considerably more simulation time than the Non-sequential Monte Carlo Simulation approach to provide accurate estimates for the reliability indexes. In an attempt to reduce the simulation time, the SMCS method has been implemented in parallel using a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to take advantage of the fast calculations provided by these computing platforms. Two parallelization strategies are proposed: Strategy A, which creates and evaluates yearly samples in a completely parallel approach and while the estimates of the reliability indexes are computed in the CPU; and Strategy B, which consists on concurrently sampling the outage events for the generating units while the state evaluation and the index estimation stages are executed in serial. Simulation results for the IEEE RTS 79, IEEE RTS 96, and the new IEEE RTS GMLC test systems, show that both implementations lead to a significant acceleration of the SMCS method while keeping all its advantages. In addition, it was observed that Strategy B results in less simulation time than Strategy A for generation system adequacy assessment. © 2020 IEEE.

Abstract
Bin picking is a challenging problem common to many industries, whose automation will lead to great economic benefits. This paper presents a method for estimating the pose of a set of randomly arranged bent tubes, highly subject to occlusions and entanglement. The approach involves using a depth sensor to obtain a point cloud of the bin. The algorithm begins by filtering the point cloud to remove noise and segmenting it using the surface normals. Tube sections are then modeled as cylinders that are fitted into each segment using RANSAC. Finally, the sections are combined into complete tubes by adopting a greedy heuristic based on the distance between their endpoints. Experimental results with a dataset created with a Zivid sensor show that this method is able to provide estimates with high accuracy for bins with up to ten tubes. Therefore, this solution has the potential of being integrated into fully automated bin picking systems.