Nowadays technology follows us everywhere. However, it is often overlooked when dealing with social issues, despite how easily it might improve the life of countless handicapped individuals. In other words, small pieces of software, under the form of games, can help the individual remain focus and go through treatments and therapies effortlessly. But game development is tricky because simply adopting a software development approach is not enough, as it assumes that games as a software can be developed through the commonly used systematic processes, yet these do have specific requirements. This paper proposes a new game development model to successfully deliver a quality serious game, towards social causes, bearing in mind the specific aspects both from games as a special kind of software and from the target players introducing a therapeutic/clinical perspective in the games development model.

Abstract Bone histology is an important tool for uncovering life history traits of extinct animals, particularly those that lack modern analogs, such as the non-avian dinosaurs. In most studies, histological analyses preferentially focus on long bones for understanding growth rates and determining age. Here we show, by analyzing ornithischians (a stegosaur and an ornithopod), saurischians (a sauropod and a theropod), and a crocodile, rib histology is a suitable alternative. The estimated age for all sampled taxa ranges between 14 to 17 years for Lourinhanosaurus antunesi and 27 to 31 years estimated for Draconyx loureiroi. The theropod Baryonyx was skeletally mature around 23–25 years of age but showed unfused neurocentral sutures, a paedomorphic feature possibly related to aquatic locomotion. Our results show that ribs can contain a nearly complete growth record, and reveal important information about individual age, point of sexual maturity, and, in some cases, sex. Because ribs are more available than long bones, this method opens new possibilities for studying rare and incomplete fossils, including holotypes.

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Germany has ambitious targets to produce 35 % of the needed electricity from Renewables (RES) mainly based on wind and solar power by 2020 and over 80 % by 2050 within the so called “Energiewende”. Energy storage is seen as a potential option to assure the safe RES system integration to achieve this goals. There is a high uncertainty and the resulting public discourse about the future demand of different storage technologies is driving further development of these technologies. A literature review of 9 studies and 10 expert interviews is carried out in line of a foresight exercise to tackle these uncertainties. The estimations of reviewed literature are based on models with a market perspective on energy storage demand. Most scenarios used in this models are built on top down logics, where processes at lower levels (technology, micro-economic sphere) are determined by dominant macro dynamics. Different storage technologies are only considered partially or in an aggregated way. The reviewed studies show that there is a high for potential storage on every time scale starting from the year 2030 to 2040. Analysed potentials vary depending on RES diffusion scenarios and excess rate assumptions which are estimated to be between 0 to 44 GW in 2050. Reviewed studies strongly integrate shared visions about system developments and formal analyses and provide important and valuable information about potential future implications regarding energy storage. But they only partially account, due to practical reasons, wider benefits, stakeholder opinions and continuous market and system changes. It is also not possible to account for discontinuities in the technological innovation process of energy storage within this quantitative approaches. Stakeholder interviews provide thus additional and helpful insights to the literature review. The stakeholders frame alternative potential future developments that could influence the market success and need for energy storage until 2050. Most important factors named where policy measures, new market models and decentralization of the energy system. As in literature there is a big uncertainty among experts about the importance of different storage technologies and if energy storage is in general the best option among other flexibility measures as grid reinforcement, flexible demand and flexible power plants. It remains thus impossible to provide suggestions regarding the development of single storage technologies.

The biological relevance of molybdenum was demonstrated in the early 1950s-1960s, by Bray, Beinert, Lowe, Massey, Palmer, Ehrenberg, Pettersson, Vänngård, Hanson and others, with ground-breaking studies performed, precisely, by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Those earlier studies, aimed to investigate the mammalian xanthine oxidase and avian sulfite oxidase enzymes, demonstrated the surprising biological reduction of molybdenum to the paramagnetic Mo⁵⁺. Since then, EPR spectroscopy, alongside with other spectroscopic methods and X-ray crystallography, has contributed to our present detailed knowledge about the active site structures, catalytic mechanisms and structure/activity relationships of the molybdenum-containing enzymes.
This Chapter will provide a perspective on the contribution that EPR spectroscopy has made to some selected systems. After a brief overview on molybdoenzymes, the Chapter will be focused on the EPR studies of mammalian xanthine oxidase, with a brief account on the prokaryotic aldehyde oxidoreductase, nicotinate dehydrogenase and carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, vertebrate sulfite oxidase, and prokaryotic formate dehydrogenases and nitrate reductases.

http://docentes.fct.unl.pt/lblm/files/epr_book-chap_4.pdf

Apesar da escrita ter, habitualmente, uma maior expressão no ensino da Matemática que a própria oralidade, os alunos não estão habituados a explicitar raciocínios e a utilizar linguagem matemática apropriada. A comunicação matemática escrita tem algumas particularidades que podem ser diretamente trabalhadas com os alunos. Por exemplo, a escrita ajuda os alunos a dar sentido à Matemática e a melhorar o próprio discurso. As produções dos alunos transportam informações para o professor contribuindo para a planificação e concretização da sua prática profissional. Assim, e apesar de frequentemente ser descurada, a escrita matemática pode ser trabalhada na sala de aula, em particular, com futuros professores. Este artigo reporta parte de uma experiência realizada com uma turma da Licenciatura em Educação Básica, tendo por base a resolução em grupo de um problema de Geometria e o registo escrito do processo de resolução elaborado pelos alunos. Pretendeu-se desta forma caraterizar a comunicação escrita dos alunos e identificar contributos desta para a compreensão por parte do professor dos conhecimentos dos alunos. A análise da escrita matemática dos alunos, tendo por base um conjunto de critérios previamente definidos, permitiu identificar a preferência destes pelo recurso à representação verbal, dificuldades em fundamentar adequadamente as respostas apresentadas e uma forte tendência para desvalorizar as abordagens prévias que não conduziram à resposta ao problema. Permitiu ainda identificar uma tendência para não explicitar o entendimento das questões que lhes eram colocadas. A forma como os conceitos matemáticos surgem nas repostas escritas permite identificar aspetos relevantes do conhecimento dos alunos.

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The last decades have shown an increasing amount of research into expectations of science and technology. Especially for emerging technologies, expectations held by different stakeholder are guiding the direction of research and development. In this article the results of an investigation into the expectations of specific actors regarding the development of emerging battery technology for applications in the power grid are presented. It is set up as an explorative study within the framework of Constructive Technology Assessment (CTA). A number of studies since the 1990s have indicated a growing need for energy storage options in the power grid, where batteries appear to be capable of providing a range of valuable services to the grid. Cost-effectiveness on a large scale will however require considerable technical improvements. The configuration of energy storage may differ in the specific location and exploitation of the storage assets, as well as in the investments in new storage capacity. In this study the visions and expectations of several relevant actors are analysed using interviews and surveys in terms of expectations of technological development, expectations concerning stakeholder roles, and channels of interaction between the relevant actors. The results indicate a divide in expectations between the user side of the technology (the electric power industry) and the development side (academic researchers). Opinions differ with respect to the obstacles to technological development, the actors relevant in early technological development, and the most suitable channels for interaction between these actors. It follows from the theoretical background that conflicts in expectations provide the opportunity for the acceleration of technological development and adoption through stakeholder participation. Small interactive workshops, where conflicts identified in this paper are discussed, were identified as a suitable channel in order to reach consensus in visions and expectations for battery technology.

Precast concrete sandwich panels started being used as cladding for buildings, together with the rise of industrial prefabrication, during the mid-20th century. Since then, society and industry have become increasingly aware of energy efficiency in all fields, for both affordability and sustainability consciousness. As such, buildings have been subject to increasingly stringent requirements with the technology of sandwich panels kept continually at the forefront.
Nowadays, sandwich panels have reached the highest standards of functional performance as structural efficiency, flexibility in use, the speed as well as of aesthetic appeal. These combine in building construction with the well-known advantages of prefabrication; such as construction, quality consciousness, durability and sustainability. Sandwich panels have gained more and more important in their field, thus representing quite a significant application within the industry of prefabrication and an important share of the market.
The Commission ‘Prefabrication’ is keen to promote the development of all precast structural concrete products and to transfer the knowledge to practical design and construction. Now filling a strategic gap, by issuing this Guide to Good Practice, which includes design considerations, structural analysis, building physics, use of materials, manufacturing methods, equipment, field performance, and provides a comprehensive overview of the information currently available worldwide. The Commission is particularly proud that this document is a result of close cooperation with PCI and that it will be published by both fib and PCI. This cooperation started six years ago, first with comparing the different approaches to several issues, then progressively integrating up to producing common documents, like this one, that wasn’t yet treated in a specific Guide by either body.

Swarm intelligence techniques are among the most talented and successful approaches that gained a lot of popularity over the past two decades. They are inspired by animal behavior (such as ants, termites and bees) and insect conduct (by swarm, herd, flock and shoal phenomena) in order to develop these techniques in terms of mimicking their problem/solution abilities. These techniques provide good approximate solutions in a reasonable time for solving hard and complex problems in many engineering fields. This book is intended for researchers, engineers and graduate students with interests in swarm intelligence algorithms and their applications. It discusses and describes the various swarm intelligence techniques as useful tools for solving practical problems, such as urban traffic optimization, electrical engineering problems and the design of integrated analog circuits.

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http://docentes.fct.unl.pt/lblm/files/jiengchem-2017-54-341.pdf

Die Ausweitung von Robotertechnologien nicht nur in der Industrie, sondern zunehmend auch in Dienstleistungsbereiche, stellt große Herausforderungen an die Mensch-Roboter-Kollaboration. Der Artikel beleuchtet psychologische, soziologische, arbeitswissenschaftliche und berufspädagogische Gesichtspunkte bei der Gestaltung und dem Einsatz von Robotern in Produktion und Service. Zu diesem Zweck werden zunächst spezifische Merkmale der Mensch-Roboter-Interaktion dargestellt, um anschließend Prinzipien der Funktionsteilung zwischen Menschen und Robotern in Arbeitssystemen des Produktions- und Servicebereichs zu diskutieren. Zu berücksichtigen sind hier die Organisation gesellschaftlicher Arbeit, die spezifischen Arbeitsaufgaben sowie die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der informationstechnischen Realisierung solcher Aufgaben. Der Artikel endet mit dem Plädoyer, bei der Entwicklung und Anwendung von Robotern arbeitswissenschaftliche Kriterien mit Ansätzen partizipativer Technikgestaltung zu kombinieren.