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- Using ICT for Tacit Knowledge Preservation in Old AgePublication . Marcelino, Isabel; Góis, José; Laza, Rosalía; Pereira, AntónioAs the world population is aging, numerous challenges were raised. How to maintain a sustainable aging? How to increase the active role of older adults in society? How to promote healthy aging along with the improvement of social and technological inclusion and enhance emotional well-being? How to preserve the vast tacit knowledge existent in seniors? Pervasive computing can giving an enormous contribution to overcome this issues. In the present paper we introduce eService platform as a novel service ecosystem mainly developed for senior population, including life experiences and knowledge record service. We have researched and selected the most relevant accessibility guidelines concerning senior population and made a low fidelity prototype, followed by both fidelity prototypes, one with and one without guideline application. Finally we conducted usability tests and semi structured interviews with 6 individuals to validate our work. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed guideline checklist was validated, well accepted and easy to use by seniors. They also validate the extreme importance of knowledge preservation.
- Human-Computer Interaction in BedPublication . Desouzart, Gustavo; Filgueiras, ErnestoSleep disorders are increasingly common view and it is a growing problem in modern societies. There are several problems that can cause this type of disturbance, being the demanding obligations of work and study, a current problem, which leads individuals to allocate more time their rest period in at home. Currently, we are seeing the replacement of handwork by mental, automated and computerized work, which translates into an increasing percentage of time spent performing repetitive static character tasks (physical effort), being able to compare yourself to your work done in industry, traditional production lines (Caetano & Vala 2002). It is no less demanding contexts of labor among which are those activities that involve the long hours spent at the computer. This paper presents a study whose objective was to research the human-computer interaction with the time spent by young adults in carrying out activities with computing devices (computer, tablet or mobile phone) in residences’ bedrooms of air force military and university students in rest time periods and with ecological validation with observation method to video analysis and using a Software iSEE. A sample of 32956 observations, which corresponds to 1824 sleep-hours of 24 young adults, was classified into two (2) Interaction Categories (IC), body position while participants were awake in bed (2873 observations) and doing activities (3001 observations). The image registration was performed during the period of six months, divided into two periods with each participant, to enable the analysis of different times of the year and not just a single period can mean a higher specific activity. The results show that 38.7% (N = 1113 observations) of the participants presented the sitting as the most common postural behavior during awake in bed when the participants doing activities. In reference of activities in bed, 49.2% (N = 1475) used the computer, followed by Using mobile devices, with 16.7% (N = 501) of observations. When we analyze the group of participants, the students showed 49.2% of the period of activity in bed, using the computer, and 13.8% used mobile equipment. In the same reference, the military also used the computer (49%) as the main activity in bed during the night rest, but they used more mobile devices (19.4%) than students. Regarding the postures, students used the sitting (57.1%) as the main active posture when in bed, however, the military was the only sitting 3rd indication posture in bed, being the 1st observation of posture in bed,was the supine position with 30.7%. This data set the type of use of computer devices in bed (studying, playing games, watching movie or playing). Findings of this study allow suggesting what graphical interface designers must seek as newstrategies and solutions for posture in bed, exploring other peripheral equipment for using informatics equipment in bed position.
- eServices - Service Platform for Pervasive Elderly CarePublication . Marcelino, Isabel; Laza, Rosalía; Domingues, Patrício; Gómez-Meire, Silvana; Pereira, AntónioIn this paper, we present a solution to improve elderly’s quality of life. eServices – Service platform for pervasive elderly care was designed to aggregate several services developed to meet senior population’s needs. It monitors basic life signs, environment variables and uses personal location technology. Besides sensor services, eServices solution contains digital services align with emotional and social care needs. Due to target population specifications, eServices was designed to be as simple and accessible as possible in order to remove technological barriers. One of eServices major features is to detect imminent danger situations, act accordingly. It also collects the data from the sensors, location routines and from the interactions between the elderlies and the provided services to detect behavior deviations in order to act preventively. The platform was tested by seniors in real scenario. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed platform was well accepted and easy to use by seniors, which demonstrated enthusiasm and interest in daily bases use.
- eCrash: a Genetic Programming-Based Testing Tool for Object-Oriented SoftwarePublication . Ribeiro, José Carlos Bregieiro; Nogueira, Ana Filipa; Vega, Francisco Fernández de; Zenha-Rela, Mário AlbertoThis paper describes the methodology, architecture and features of the eCrash framework, a Java-based tool which employs Strongly-Typed Genetic Programming to automate the generation of test data for the structural unit testing of Object-Oriented programs. The application of Evolutionary Algorithms to Test Data generation is often referred to as Evolutionary Testing. eCrash implements an Evolutionary Testing strategy developed with three major purposes: improving the level of performance and automation of the Software Testing process; minimising the interference of the tool’s users on the Test Object analysis to a minimum; and mitigating the impact of users decisions in the Test Data generation process.
- Seismic vulnerability of vernacular buildings in urban centres-the case of vila real de santo antónioPublication . Vasconcelos, G.; Lourenço, P.B.; Rodrigues, H.; Varum, H.Following detailed studies of Portuguese vernacular building typologies, this paper deals with buildings located in historical urban centres. An analysis of the history of the urban centre and, in particular, of some vernacular buildings is enhanced. Additionally, a discussion on the influence of changes of the geometry, and on added built volumes to original buildings in the seismic vulnerability of the buildings is also provided.
- Smart Remote Control Design for SeniorsPublication . Pereira, António; Silva, Fernando; Ribeiro, José; Marcelino, Isabel; Barroso, JoãoTechnology is present in almost all aspects of our modern lives, and technological advances have been more and more prevalent. One would expect this to facilitate everybody’s life, rendering common tasks more practical and easier to perform, but that is often not the case - at least not for the elderly. Older people have significant difficulties in using technological equipment due to the visual, physical, cognitive and hearing limitations associated with the natural aging process; these aspects must be taken into account if the intention is that of integrating technology in the lives of the elderly. In order to improve the quality of life of the elderly, as well as to prevent their social isolation, a mobile device application was developed to act as an intelligent remote control. This mobile application deals with data from two different platforms that were previously developed for improving the quality of life of the senior population: HbbTV and +Social. The features built into this virtual remote control include the integration with the +Social platform, as well as a speech recognition mechanism, and the possibility of making and receiving video calls with an integrated contacts list. A comprehensive study was carried out, focusing on recommendations and rules for graphical interfaces for the elderly, so as to allow equipping the application with adequate usability standards. The most relevant result was the definition of a list of guidelines used to steer the development of the interface. An investigation of mechanisms and technologies for enabling the implementation of the required functionalities was also carried out in order to define methodologies for freeing the user from the need of possessing any level of computer literacy. A series of usability tests was also performed to validate the viability of the remote control application. These tests allowed assessing the quality of the application, especially concerning the Graphical User Interface, as well as to receive feedback from potential end users. Based on the data collected during the test phase we conclude that this product is useful and that it responds to a current need.
- Discrete Compound Tests and Dorfman’s Methodology in the Presence of MisclassificationPublication . Santos, Rui; Martins, João Paulo; Felgueiras, MiguelCompound tests can be used to save resources for classification or estimation purposes in clinical trials and quality control. Nevertheless, the methodologies that are usually applied are restricted to qualitative group tests. Moreover, when quantitative compound tests are applied the problem is to ascertain whether the amount of some substance of any individual in the group is greater or lower than a prefixed threshold. An overview of the applications of the discrete compound tests highlights the advantages (to save resources) and disadvantages (higher probability of misclassification), and suggests criteria to assess the suitability of applying Dorfman’s methodology.
- Sensitivity of the sea snail Gibbula umbilicalis to mercury exposure – Linking endpoints from different biological organization levelsPublication . Cabecinhas, Adriana S.; Novais, Sara C.; Santos, Sílvia C.; Rodrigues, Andreia C.M.; Pestana, João L.T.; Soares, Amadeu M.V.M.; Lemos, Marco F.L.Mercury contamination is a common phenomenon in the marine environment and for this reason it is important to develop cost-effective and relevant tools to assess its toxic effects on a number of different species. To evaluate the possible effects of Hg in the sea snail Gibbula umbilicalis, animals were exposed to increasing concentrations of the contaminant in the ionic form for 96h. After this exposure period, mortality, feeding and flipping behavior, the activity of the biomarkers glutathione S-transferase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, lactate dehydrogenase and cholinesterase, the levels of lipid peroxidation and cellular energy allocation were measured. After 96h of exposure to the highest Hg concentration (≈LC20), there was a significant inhibition of the cholinesterase activity as well as impairment in the flipping behavior and post-exposure feeding of the snails. Cholinesterase inhibition was correlated with the impairment of behavioral responses also caused by exposure to Hg. These endpoints, including the novel flipping test, revealed sensitivity to Hg and might be used as relevant early warning indicators of prospective effects at higher biological organization levels, making these parameters potential tools for environmental risk assessment. The proposed test species showed sensitivity to Hg and proved to be a suitable and resourceful species to be used in ecotoxicological testing to assess effects of other contaminants in marine ecosystems.
- Structure–property relationships in polyethylene based films obtained by blow molding as model system of industrial relevancePublication . Duraccio, Donatella; Mauriello, Amalia; Cimmino, Sossio; Silvestre, Clara; Auriemma, Finizia; Rosa, Claudio de; Pirozzi, Beniamino; Mitchell, Geoffrey RobertA method for the study of structure-property relationships of polyethylene (PE)-based films of potential use in food packaging has been set up. The approach has been demonstrated in the case of films obtained by blow-molding using model mixtures of two different polyethylenes, namely a metallocene-made grade of linear low density polyethylene (mLLDPE) and a low density polyethylene (LDPE). We show that physical properties important for numerous applications of these films, such as water vapor and oxygen permeability, toughness and stress strength, are related to the molecular structure and structural and morphological parameters of the blends, in particular, thickness of amorphous layers in lamellar stacks, lamellar thickness, lamellar twisting, and degree and type of branching.
- Multi-objective optimization using NSGA-II for power distribution system reconfigurationPublication . Vitorino, Romeu M.; Jorge, Humberto M.; Neves, Luís P.This study proposes a new strategy to solve the problem of radial power distribution system (RDS) recon figuration in a multi-objective and constrained environment. Due to the presence of various conflicting objectives and constraints, the proposed strategy uses the Elitist Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II), an effective evolutionarymulti-objective optimization technique. NSGA-II determines a set of pareto-optimal solutions for the power distribution system topology, considering power losses, reliability and investment in tie-switches. The methodology adopted to evaluate the RDS reliability uses a non-sequential Monte Carlo Simulation and is focused on the impacts of branch failures for interruption energy assessment. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is demonstrated on a 69 bus RDS.
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