The human ear is a complex biomechanical system and is divided into three parts: outer, middle and inner ear. The middle ear is formed by ossicles (malleus, incus and stapes), ligaments, muscles and tendons, which transfers sound vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear, linking with mastoid and Eustachian tube. In this work, a finite element modelling of the tympano-ossicular system of the middle ear was developed. A dynamic study based on a structural response to harmonic vibrations, for a sound pressure level (SPL) of 110, 120 and 130 dB SPL applied in the eardrum, is presented. The connection between the ossicles is made using a contact formulation. The model includes the different ligaments considering its hyperelastic behaviour. The activation of the muscles is based on the constitutive model proposed by previous work. The harmonic responses of displacement and pressure obtained on the stapes footplate, for a frequency range between 100 Hz and 10 kHz, are obtained simulating the muscle activation. The results are compared considering the passive and active states. The results are discussed and they are in accordance with audiological data published with reference to the effects of the middle ear muscles contraction.

The next generation Internet (also known as Internet-of-Things – IoT), will ubiquitously integrate trillions of computing devices of all kinds, shapes and sizes. For this ubiquity to materialize, a key aspect will certainly be interoperability, the capability of different technologies (e.g. different communication protocols at both horizontal and vertical levels, different hardware platforms, different operating systems, fixed and mobile nodes, etc) to talk to and understand each other. A major enabler for this interoperability is the use of standard and commercial-off-the-shelf technologies (e.g. communication protocols, hardware platforms, operating systems). As IPv6 has become the de-facto communication technology for the Internet, 6LoWPAN has recently started paving the way for extending the Internet to low-power low-cost wireless devices. However, while mobility support will be a requirement (or at least beneficial) in many applications contexts, the support of mobile nodes in the default 6loWPAN/RPL protocol leads to excessive packet loss and delays. In this work, we show that interoperability between fixed and mobile nodes can be successfully achieved through the use of appropriate hand-off and topology management techniques. We propose a mobility management framework (dubbed mRPL+) unifying two hand-off models: (1) hard hand-off, where a mobile node has to break a link before finding a new link, and (2) soft hand-off , where a mobile node selects the new link before disconnecting from the current one. Importantly, mRPL+ is integrated in the 6LoWPAN/RPL stack in a backward compatible manner. Simulation results indicate that in a network with mobile nodes, packet delivery ratio with mRPL+ is nearly 100%, where RPL achieves 80% in best-case. Hand-off process has a disconnected period of few milliseconds (hand-off delay = 4 ms), while RPL experiences few seconds of disconnection during node’s mobility (3−10 s).

This paper is about PCMAT, an adaptive learning platform for Mathematics in Basic Education schools. Based on a constructivist approach, PCMAT aims at verifying how techniques from adaptive hypermedia systems can improve e-learning based systems. To achieve this goal, PCMAT includes a Pedagogical Model that contains a set of adaptation rules that influence the student-platform interaction. PCMAT was subject to a preliminary testing with students aged between 12 and 14 years old on the subject of direct proportionality. The results from this preliminary test are quite promising as they seem to demonstrate the validity of our proposal.

This paper introduces the PCMAT platform project and, in particular, one of its components, the PCMAT Metadata Authoring Tool. This is an educational web application that allows the project metadata creators to write the metadata associated to each learning object without any concern for the metadata schema semantics. Furthermore it permits the project managers to add or delete elements to the schema, without having to rewrite or compile any code.

Ejection chain methods, which include the classical Lin–Kernighan (LK) procedure and the Stem-and-Cycle (S&C) reference structure, have been the source of the currently leading algorithms for large scale sym- metric traveling salesman problems (STSP). Although these methods proved highly effective in generating large neighborhoods for symmetric instances, their potential application to the asymmetric setting of the problem (ATSP) introduces new challenges that require special consideration. This article extends our studies on the single-rooted S&C to examine the more advanced doubly- rooted (DR) reference structure. The DR structure, which is allied both to metaheuristics and network optimization, allows more complex network-related (alternating) paths to transition from one tour to another, and offers spe- cial advantages for the ATSP. Computational experiments on an extensive testbed exhibits superior performance for the DR neighborhood over its LK counterpart for the ATSP. We additionally show that a straightforward implementation of a DR ejection chain algorithm out- performs the best local search algorithms and obtains solutions comparable to those obtained by the currently most advanced special-purpose algorithms for the ATSP, while requiring dramatically reduced computation time.

This work, as a fieldtrip guide, aims to provide a glimpse into the palaeoenvironments, palaeontology, and diagenesis of one of the most productive areas for Late Jurassic dinosaurs and other vertebrates in Europe, namely, the sites of the Lourinhã Formation, which is coeval with the Morrison Formation of the midwest USA. The Late Jurassic rifting phase of the Lusitanian Basin created several sub-basins separated by major crustal faults. In the western and central areas of the basin, the Caldas da Rainha structure separates three sub-basins with different subsidence and infill characteristics (Consolação to the west, Bombarral–Alcobaça to the northeast, and Turcifal to the southeast). The Upper Jurassic–lowermost Cretaceous succession exposed in the coastal cliffs located between Nazaré and Santa Cruz belongs to the Consolação Sub-basin, whereas the coastal outcrops between Santa Cruz and Ericeira show units of the Turcifal Sub-basin. To place the stops into a coherent context, selected units of the fieldtrip area are detailed. The stratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic of the Lusitanian Basin is quite complex, and no fully accepted overall proposal exists. Thus, a review of lithostratigraphy, sedimentology, age and environmental interpretations is presented. Interpretations of palaeoclimate, palaeogeography, and taphonomy contribute to establishing an overview of the landscape where dinosaurs lived and to understanding the conditions for their fossilization and preservation. This trip, which takes place from north to south, focuses on the vertebrate content, sedimentology, and stratigraphy of the deposits. The first stop at Consolação examines the upper Kimmeridgian shallow-marine to deltaic Alcobaça Formation, which underlies the Lourinhã Formation. Further south, the Paimogo fort cape gives a scenic view of the Lourinhã Formation: to the north, the Praia da Amoreira and Porto Novo members (lower coastal plain alluvium, including distal fan and meandering fluvial systems; upper Kimmeridgian), and, to the south, the Praia Azul Member (lower coastal plain alluvium with three brackish–marine faunally distinct transgressive carbonate levels; uppermost Kimmeridgian to lowermost Tithonian). In Paimogo, we visit sites where dinosaur eggs and a sauropod skeleton have been found. The stop at the Museum of Lourinhã allows a visit to one of the most important collections of Late Jurassic vertebrates in Europe. The last fieldtrip stop at Porto da Calada examines the top of the Assenta Member of the Lourinhã Formation (meandering fluvial system with intercalations of shallow-marine lagoonal carbonates; upper Tithonian to lowermost Berriasian) and the Porto da Calada Formation (meandering fluvial system with thin levels of estuarine and intertidal flats carbonates; Berriasian) and thus includes the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary.

Stereolithography is an additive technology that allows the fabrication of three-dimensional macro and micro-parts for industrial and medical applications. By solidifying a liquid photo-sensitive monomer with a laser or UV-light source a polymeric part is built up layer by layer. The use of highly reinforced polymeric systems with metallic or ceramic particles also enables to transform this rapid prototyping technology into a rapid manufacturing one. The quality and fabrication speed of stereolithographic parts strongly depends on the curing kinetics. Therefore it is crucial to optimize the polymeric mixture for a specific application. This research work investigates the curing kinetics of reinforced and non-reinforced unsaturated polyester resins with different photo-initiator concentrations. Two types of particles were considered: tungsten carbide and hydroxyapatite (concentrations of 30 wt%).