This book is dedicated to the analysis of parametric amplification with special emphasis on the MOS discrete-time implementation. This implementation is demonstrated by the presentation of several circuits where the MOS parametric amplifier cell is used: small gain amplifier, comparator with embedded pre-amplification, discrete-time mixer/IIR-Filter, and analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Experimental results are shown to validate the overall design technique.

The 1755 earthquake and tsunami were influential not only in Portugal but in all European and North African countries where the devastating effects were felt. The entire world was deeply impressed and the discussion of its causes generated a large amount of scientific and metaphysical speculation. It inspired philosophers, poets and writers. The socio-economic consequences of the event were great and affected the future organization and development of Portugal. The possibility of a similar occurence urges society and the scientific community to reflect on its lessons. Audience This work is of interest to experts in seismology, earthquake engineering, civil protection, urban planning and it is a reference book for doctoral students.

This volume holds a collection of articles based on the talks presented at ICDEA 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal.

The volume encompasses current topics on stability and bifurcation, chaos, mathematical biology, iteration theory, nonautonomous systems, and stochastic dynamical systems.

Recognition of the link between vocational education and economics and social development is resulting in a wide range of educational and training strategies within individual nation states and supranational bodies like the European Community. This book brings together 12 case studies which illustrate the expansion strategies used by successful distance learning programmes to respond to the increasing demand for more flexibility and alternative delivery modes of vocational education. Each case illustrates different implications of expanding distance learning systems as they affect corporate strategies and structures, planning, training design, marketing and delivery systems, as well as cost-effectiveness and the strategies for managing change.

This book is dedicated to the analysis of parametric amplification with special emphasis on the MOS discrete-time implementation. This implementation is demonstrated by the presentation of several circuits where the MOS parametric amplifier cell is used: small gain amplifier, comparator with embedded pre-amplification, discrete-time mixer/IIR-Filter, and analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Experimental results are shown to validate the overall design technique.

The 1755 earthquake and tsunami were influential not only in Portugal but in all European and North African countries where the devastating effects were felt. The entire world was deeply impressed and the discussion of its causes generated a large amount of scientific and metaphysical speculation. It inspired philosophers, poets and writers. The socio-economic consequences of the event were great and affected the future organization and development of Portugal. The possibility of a similar occurence urges society and the scientific community to reflect on its lessons. Audience This work is of interest to experts in seismology, earthquake engineering, civil protection, urban planning and it is a reference book for doctoral students.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 18th EPIA Conference on Artificial Intelligence, EPIA 2017, held in Porto, Portugal, in September 2017. The 69 revised full papers and 2 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 177 submissions. The papers are organized in 16 tracks devoted to the following topics: agent-based modelling for criminological research (ABM4Crime), artificial intelligence in cyber-physical and distributed embedded systems (AICPDES), artificial intelligence in games (AIG), artificial intelligence in medicine (AIM), artificial intelligence in power and energy systems (AIPES), artificial intelligence in transportation systems (AITS), artificial life and evolutionary algorithms (ALEA), ambient intelligence and affective environments (AmIA), business applications of artificial intelligence (BAAI), intelligent robotics (IROBOT), knowledge discovery and business intelligence (KDBI), knowledge representation and reasoning (KRR), multi-agent systems: theory and applications (MASTA), software engineering for autonomous and intelligent systems (SE4AIS), social simulation and modelling (SSM), and text mining and applications (TeMA).

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are a unique class of materials with the ability to recover their shape when the temperature is increased. An increase in temperature can result in shape recovery even under high applied loads. SMAs can also absorb and dissipate mechanical energy by undergoing a reversible hysteretic shape change when subjected to applied mechanical cyclic loading. These characteristics have made SMAs very popular for applications such as sensing and actuation, absorption and vibration damping. The application of SMAs spans a wide variety of industrial sectors such as aerospace automotive, biomedical and oil exploration. The demand of joining techniques for SMAs has become of great importance, as their functional properties, namely shape memory effect and superelasticity, present unique solutions for state-of-the-art applications. An investigation was conducted on laser welding of NiTi alloys aiming at correlating the mechanical cycling behavior and the microstructure obtained.

Aging: From Fundamental Biology to Societal Impact examines the interconnection of the cellular and molecular basis of aging and societal-based challenges and innovative interventions. Sections take a societal-based angle on aging, describing several flagship initiatives for healthy living and active aging in different regions, cover the biology of aging which includes the hallmarks of aging, explain the pathophysiology of aging, describing different comorbidities associated with aging and possible interventions to decrease the impact of aging, and envision future and innovative measures to tackle aging-related morbidities. Contributions from an interdisciplinary panel of experts cover such topics as the biology of aging to physical activity, nutrition, psychology, pharmacology, health care, social care and urban planning.

Composto de 220 paginas, estruturado em oito capitulos, referencias bibliograficas e um glossario geologico-geomorfologico, o texto apresenta um total de 49 figuras, alem de um anexo exibindo o mapa geoevolutivo da planicie costeira da ilha de Santa Catarina, na escala 1:100.000. Complementam as ilustracoes, 132 fotos, tres quadros e 28 tabelas, abordando as caracteristicas geologico-geomorfologicas das 117 praias arenosas da ilha de Santa Catarina. Constitui uma excelente obra de divulgacao das pesquisas realizadas no ambito do litoral da ilha de Santa Catarina, servindo como um meio atrativo para a comunidade em geral, tanto academica como institucional. Universidades, instituicoes de pesquisa, escolas, orgaos governamentais, empresas de consultoria, agencias de fomento e de turismo, dentre outras, poderao usufruir do conteudo do trabalho. O texto foi produzido em uma linguagem que viesse a atender os anseios da populacao em geral, tanto residente na ilha de Santa Catarina, bem como dos visitantes que procuram suas praias durante todo o ano e principalmente nos meses de verao.