Abstract
Innovative traffic management measures are needed to reduce transportation-related emissions. While in Europe, road lane management has focused mainly on introduction of bus lanes, the conversion to High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV) and eco-lanes (lanes dedicated to vehicles running on alternative fuels) has not been studied comprehensively. The objectives of this research are to: (1) Develop an integrated microscopic modeling platform calibrated with real world data to assess both traffic and emissions impacts of future Traffic Management Strategies (TMS) in an urban area; (2) Evaluate the introduction of HOV/eco-lanes in three different types of roads, freeway, arterial and urban routes, in an European medium-sized city and its effects in terms of emissions and traffic performance. The methodology consists of three distinct phases: (a) Traffic and road inventory data collection; (b) Traffic and emissions simulation using an integrated platform of microscopic simulation; and (c) Evaluation of scenarios. For the baseline scenario, the statistical analysis shows valid results. The results show that HOV and eco-lanes in a medium European city are feasible, and when the Average Occupancy of Vehicles (AOV) increases, on freeways, the majority of vehicles can reduce their travel time (2%) with a positive impact in terms of total emissions (-38% NOx, -39% HC, -43% CO and -37% CO2). On urban and arterial corridors, the reduction in emissions could be achieved only if the AOV increases from 1.50 to 1.70 passengers/vehicle. Total emissions of the corridor with an AOV of 1.70 passengers/vehicle can be reduced up to 35-36% for the urban route while the values can be reduced by 36-39% for the arterial road. With the introduction of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) and Electric Vehicles (EV) it is possible to reduce emissions, although the introduction of eco-lanes did not show significant reductions in emissions. When both policies are simulated together, an emissions improvement is observed for the arterial route and for two of the scenarios.

Abstract
Pectus excavatum is the most common deformity of the thorax. Pre-operative diagnosis usually includes Computed Tomography (CT) to successfully employ a thoracic prosthesis for anterior chest wall remodeling. Aiming at the elimination of radiation exposure, this paper presents a novel methodology for the replacement of CT by a 3D laser scanner (radiation-free) for prosthesis modeling. The complete elimination of CT is based on an accurate determination of ribs position and prosthesis placement region through skin surface points. The developed solution resorts to a normalized and combined outcome of an artificial neural network (ANN) set. Each ANN model was trained with data vectors from 165 male patients and using soft tissue thicknesses (STT) comprising information from the skin and rib cage (automatically determined by image processing algorithms). Tests revealed that ribs position for prosthesis placement and modeling can be estimated with an average error of 5.0 +/- 3.6 mm. One also showed that the ANN performance can be improved by introducing a manually determined initial STT value in the ANN normalization procedure (average error of 2.82 +/- 0.76 mm). Such error range is well below current prosthesis manual modeling (approximately 11 mm), which can provide a valuable and radiation-free procedure for prosthesis personalization.

Abstract
Ambient Intelligence emerged more than two decades ago, with the exciting promise of technologically empowered environments that would be everywhere, cater to all our needs, be constantly available, know who we are and what we like, and allow us to make explicit requests using natural means instead of the traditional mouse and keyboard. At a time in which this technological unravelling was expected to have already happened, we still use the mouse and the keyboard. In this paper we make a brief analysis of why is this evolution taking more than initially expected. We then move on to analyse several different projects that are innovative, in the sense that they encompass fields of application that go beyond the initially envisioned, and show the diverse areas that AmI systems may potentially come to change. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.

Abstract
A Web Semântica (WS) é um paradigma da Web que surgiu com o intuito de ligar dados, permitindo a partilha de conteúdos para além das fronteiras das aplicações e dos sítios Web. Neste contexto, um perfil de aplicação de metadados (PA) é um constructo genérico para desenhar registos de metadados que satisfazem necessidades específicas das aplicações, proporcionando interoperabilidade semântica com outras aplicações. Esse desenho dos registos de metadados tem como base vocabulários e modelos definidos globalmente pela comunidade de metadados. A Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, provavelmente a mais conhecida e mais importante iniciativa a nível mundial no que diz respeito a metadados, definiu um modelo abstracto (Dublin Core Abstract Model) onde um dos constructos é o Dublin Core Aplication Profile (DCAP). A DCMI refere que a utilização de um DCAP é essencial para implementar interoperabilidade no contexto da WS. A concepção, o desenvolvimento e a implementação de modelos, sendo um processo complexo, necessitam de um suporte metodológico; um DCAP não foge a essa regra. Por essa razão, realizámos o estudo do estado da arte dos métodos para o desenvolvimento de PA, com o sentido de fazer o levantamento das práticas da comunidade de metadados no desenvolvimento de PA. Este estudo revelou que até à data não existe nenhum método para o desenvolvimento de um PA ou DCAP. O objectivo deste projecto de doutoramento foi o de fornecer um primeiro contributo para um tal método. A concepção do Method for the develoment of DCAP (Me4DCAP) teve como suporte: (i) as primeiras fases (até à modelação de dados) dos métodos de desenvolvimento de software; (ii) os resultados de entrevistas realizadas a desenvolvedores DCAP; (iii) as práticas identificadas no estudo já referido do estado da arte dos métodos para desenvolvimento de PA. O Me4DCAP tem como base o Singapore Framework for DCAP, e como ponto de partida o Rational Unified Process, um dos mais conhecidos e utilizados processos de desenvolvimento de software. Para realizar o nosso trabalho utilizámos a metodologia de investigação Design Science Research (DSR), no enquadramento particular para a área dos Sistemas de Informação dos três ciclos de Hevner (2007). Este enquadramento define a possibilidade da utilização de uma situação real, a que Hevner chama de “situação experimental”, para a execução de ciclos de construção-avaliação, onde o artefacto em construção - no nosso caso o Me4DCAP - vai sendo avaliado na situação experimental e redefinido, num processo iterativo. A situação experimental por nós utilizada foi o desenvolvimento de um DCAP para os Sistemas de Informação Web da comunidade mundial de Economia Social e Solidária (ESS). Esse desenvolvimento foi realizado conjuntamente com um grupo que saiu do seio da comunidade da ESS mundial. Este trabalho, identificado como uma oportunidade, resultou num DCAP-ESS. O Me4DCAP foi validado através de um grupo de discussão integrado numa conferência da especialidade, e ainda através de um Focus Group com sete especialistas mundiais de metadados. Como resultados deste doutoramento obtivemos o Me4DCAP V1.0 e o DCAP-ESS V 1.0.;The Semantic Web (SW) is a Web paradigm that emerged with the aim of linking data, enabling content share beyond the borders of Web applications and Web sites. In this context, a metadata application profile (AP) is a generic construct to design metadata records that satisfy specific needs of the applications, enabling semantic interoperability with other applications. This metadata record design is based on vocabularies and models globally defined by the metadata community. The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI), probably the best known and most important global initiative with regard to metadata, defined an abstract model (Dublin Core Abstract Model) where one of its constructs is the Dublin Core Application Profile (DCAP). DCMI states that the use of a DCAP is very important in order to implement interoperability in the context of the SW. The conception, development and implementation of models need a methodological support since they are complex processes. Therefore, in order to understand the metadata community practices in the development of AP, we performed the study of the state of the art of the methods for the development of AP. This study revealed that until now there is no method for the development of an AP. The goal of this PhD project was to develop a first approach to such a method. The design of the Method for the development of DCAP (Me4DCAP) had as support: (i) the first stages (up to the data modeling) of software development; (ii) the results of interviews conducted to DCAP developers, (iii) the practices identified in the state of the art of the methods for AP development. Me4DCAP is based on the Singapore Framework for DCAP, and has as starting point the Rational Unified Process, one of the best known and most used software development processes. We used the research methodology Design Science Research (DSR) in our work, and the “three cycles” Information Systems specific framework defined by Hevner (2007). This framework defines the possibility of using a real situation, called by Hevner (2007) as the “experimental situation”, for the execution of the construction-evaluation cycles. In these cycles the artifact in development – in our case Me4DCAP – is being evaluated in the experimental situation, and with the feedbacks from this evaluation, it is redefined, in an iterative process. The experimental situation we used was the development of a DCAP for the Web based information systems of the Social Solidarity Economy (SSE) world community (DCAP-SSE). The DCAP-SSE development was jointly undertaken with a group from the world SSE community. This work, identified as an opportunity, resulted in a DCAP-SSE V1.0. The Me4DCAP was validated through a discussion group integrated in a metadata community international conference, and in a Focus Group with seven metadata world experts. This PhD has as results the Me4DCAP V1.0 and the DCAP-SSE V 1.0.

Abstract
Nowadays, with the new paradigm shift in the energy sector and the advent of the smart grid, or even with the mandatory imposition for a gradual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the renewable producers, namely the wind power producers are faced with the competitiveness and deregulated structure that characterizes the liberalized electricity market. In a liberalized electricity market, the most important signal for all market players corresponds to the electricity prices. In this sense, accurate approaches for short-term electricity prices prediction are needed, and also for short-term wind power prediction due to the increasing share of wind generation. Hence, this paper presents a new hybrid evolutionary-adaptive approach for wind power and electricity market prices prediction, in the short-term, based on mutual information, wavelet transform, evolutionary particle swarm optimization and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, tested on real case studies, proving its superiority in a comprehensive comparison with other approaches previously published in the scientific literature.

Abstract