Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2022-01"
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- LOVE.DIST@NCE: ensino à distância como forma de equidade no acesso ao Ensino SuperiorPublication . Jesus, Ângelo,; Araújo, André,; Gonçalves, Maria João,O Ensino Superior tem assistido a um crescimento em todo o mundo nas últimas décadas. Contudo, verificam-se grandes assimetrias no que respeita ao acesso, com países/regiões específicos a apresentar acentuadas desigualdades de oportunidades, especialmente em grupos populacionais sub-representados devido ao status socioeconómico, raça, etnia, religião, idade, sexo, deficiência ou origem geográfica. Paralelamente, o acesso à internet tem vindo a massificar-se e provar o seu potencial como forma de democratização no acesso à informação. O projeto Love.Dist@nce foi criado para responder às necessidades da Geórgia e de Israel, com o contributo de parceiros Europeus, com o objetivo de promover a educação inclusiva através de ensino à distância. Após 18 meses de atividade o projeto segue o seu curso e foram já criados vários relatórios e materiais de apoio que servirão de base à implementação de unidades curriculares piloto atualmente em curso, envolvendo docentes, estudantes e não-docentes.
- A avaliação multidomínio da eficácia de programas de reabilitação neurocognitiva suportados nas novas tecnologias digitaisPublication . Pinto, Joana O.; Geraldo, Andreia; Peixoto, Bruno; Castro-Caldas, Alexandre; Barbosa, Fernando; Dores, Artemisa RochaO envolvimento das novas tecnologias digitais nos processos de estimulação e reabilitação neurocognitiva (RNC) tem potenciado a eficácia e eficiência dos serviços de RNC, nomeadamente através de uma maior personalização aos perfis funcionais de cada indivíduo. Apesar disso, os protocolos de avaliação da eficácia destes processos baseiam-se maioritariamente em resultados de instrumentos tradicionais que não fornecem informação específica sobre as alterações que produzem quer no funcionamento cerebral per se, quer no seu funcionamento multissensorial. Desta forma, o projeto de investigação em curso foca-se na avaliação da eficácia de programas de RNC suportados nas novas tecnologias digitais, em diferentes patologias neurológicas utilizando protocolos de avaliação constituídos por medidas de resultado multidomínio. Os protocolos incluem medidas de: avaliação neuropsicológica tradicional, do estado emocional, qualidade de vida, funcionalidade, neurofisiologia (i.e., conectividade funcional), e das funções sensoriopercetivas
- Designing human-robot collaboration (HRC) workspaces in industrial settings: A systematic literature reviewPublication . Simões, Ana Correia; Pinto, Ana; Santos, Joana; Pinheiro, Sofia; Romero, DavidIn the pursuit of increasing efficiency, productivity and flexibility at production lines and their corresponding workstations, manufacturing companies have started to heavily invest in “collaborative workspaces” where close interaction between humans and robots promises to lead to these goals that neither can achieve on their own. Therefore, it is necessary to know the contributions, recommendations and guidelines that literature presents in terms of designing a manufacturing workplace where humans and cobots interact with each other to accomplish the defined objectives. These aspects need to be explored in an integrated and multidisciplinary way to maximize human involvement in the decision chain and to promote wellbeing and quality of work. This paper presents a systematic literature review on designing human-robot collaboration (HRC) workspaces for humans and robots in industrial settings. The study involved 252 articles in international journals and conferences proceedings published till 2019. A detailed selection process led to including 65 articles to further analysis. A framework that represents the complexity levels of the influencing factors presented in human-robot interaction (HRI) contexts was developed for the content analysis. Based on this framework the guidelines and recommendations of the analysed articles are presented in three categories: Category 1 – the first level of complexity, which considers only one specific influencing factor in the HRI. This category was split into two: human operator, and technology; Category 2 – the second level of complexity, includes recommendations and guidelines related to human-robot team’s performance, and thus several influencing factors are present in the HRI; and, finally, Category 3 – the third level of complexity, where recommendations and guidelines for more complex and holistic approaches in the HRI are presented. The literature offers contributions from several knowledge areas capable to design safe, ergonomic, sustainable, and healthy human-centred workplaces where not only technical but also social and psychophysical aspects of collaboration are considered.
- New therapeutic approaches based on ionic liquidsPublication . Ferraz, Ricardo; Teixeira, Cátia; Prudêncio, Cristina; Teixeira, Dulce; Vieira, Mónica; Gomes, PaulaIonic liquids (ILs) are currently defined as salts (with at least one organic ion) stable above their melting point. They began to be used mainly as solvents, but quickly drew the attention of the Life Sciences, as some of the characteristics of those compounds may be relevant in therapeutic applications. ILs can show more interesting physicochemical properties at the level of active pharmaceutical ingredients such as water solubility, in addition to the fact that ILs (liquids at room temperature and/or human body temperature) do not present polymorphism, an aspect which often limits the conditions of use and therapeutic efficacy of solid active pharmaceutical ingredients. This line of research seeks, through a careful choice of the ions, to fine-tune some of these properties, and to study the combination of two bioactive molecules that have ionizable groups of opposite charge, forming ionic liquids with a dual therapeutic effect.
- Projeto ForPharmacy: Farmácia do futuro com um ecossistema plug-and-playPublication . Dores, Artemisa Rocha; Castro, Maria; Marques, AntónioOs serviços prestados nas farmácias comunitárias podem ser otimizados, com a aplicação das tecnologias da informação e comunicação (TICs), dando resposta a necessidades bem documentadas e a outras emergentes, como as associadas à pandemia de COVID-19. O projeto ForPharmacy tem como objetivo desenvolver soluções inovadoras de telefarmácia. Neste trabalho propomos a apresentação do projeto e do consórcio. Como resultado do projeto espera-se que a aplicação das TICs permita a digitalização dos serviços das farmácias, bem como a utilização das telecomunicações com pacientes a distância ou impedidos da presença física. Esta possibilidade pode ser uma grande vantagem para populações vulneráveis, como é o caso dos idosos e pessoas com doenças crónicas, assim como no contexto da pandemia de COVID-19. As soluções digitais geradas permitirão às farmácias oferecer uma vasta gama de cuidados de saúde, contribuindo para expandir o acesso aos serviços prestados e, simultaneamente, melhorar a segurança dos pacientes.
- Benefits, concerns, and perceptions of knowledge workers regarding a video stress detection softwarePublication . Rodrigues, Matilde; Ferreira, Simão; Figueiredo, Henrique; Rodrigues, Fátima; Moreira, Fernando; Costa, Luís; Rocha, NunoStress is not only highly destructive, causing various mental health disorders (anxiety, insomnia, depression), cardiovascular diseases, poor immune function, and presenteeism, as it is costly. While concerns about occupational stress have increased, new solutions for its management have emerged. Systems based on the use of facial recognition, posture, eye movements, video monitoring, and behavioral stress detection have shown good results. Their drawback has mainly been the recording of the said video feed and privacy threats proceeding. This Focus Groups aimed to raise the opinions, perceptions, and concerns of end users regarding the system under development. With a new solution in mind, we gathered two groups of knowledge workers, one group of team leaders, and a group of consulting psychologists to gather their perceptions. A Focus Groups was conducted online via Microsoft Teams, as COVID-19 restrictions were applied during that period. Against previous reports, knowledge workers showed that privacy threats were not their major concern. Both groups showed that Mental Health was their main focus as the follow-up structure regarding stress detection was the most prevalent topic being close to information sharing and software adaptation. The results highly contribute to the development of future stress detection applications/software and the importance of a detailed and thorough explanation regarding the software framework.
- Um pequeno par contra um grande trioPublication . Ferraz, Ricardo; Prudêncio, Cristina; Vieira, Mónica; Gomes, Paula; Teixeira, Cátia“Um pequeno par contra um grande trio” (Two4Three) é um projeto que se propôs combater Malária, Tuberculose e HIV com Líquidos Iónicos (ILs). Um dos grandes problemas de saúde do nosso tempo é a resistência dos agentes infeciosos aos fármacos atualmente disponíveis. Este é um problema particularmente dramático no contexto das “3 grandes doenças” - malária, HIV/SIDA e tuberculose, e em que a constante procura pelo próximo fármaco de primeira linha já não parece uma abordagem sustentável. Alternativamente, podemos pensar em olhar para os fármacos “velhos” sob uma perspetiva nova: combinar os fármacos disponíveis de polaridade oposta, no sentido de formar Líquidos Iónicos como uma maneira económica de controlar co-infeções comuns, especialmente em África (HIV/TB, TB/malária, malária/HIV). Estas novas formulações podem exibir não só uma dupla, mas também novas propriedades físico-químicas e biológicas, devido à sua natureza iónica, eventualmente contribuindo para melhorar a biodisponibilidade oral, ou até contornar problemas de resistência a cada um dos fármacos individuais. Com este trabalho demonstramos que a utilização de ILs deve ser incentivada porque pode reciclar muitos dos fármacos que foram colocados na prateleira, não só devido à resistência, mas também devido à sua limitada solubilidade aquosa ou conversão polimórfica.
- Family caregiver support strategies and tools to promote caregiver mental and emotional supportPublication . Silva, Regina; Fernandes, Sílvia; Portugal, PaulaIntroduction: Caring for family members with severe mental illness poses a great risk to the health of caregivers, being associated with the development of emotional, mental and physical health problems. The Family Caregiver Support Project aims to empower informal caregivers, through access to relevant medical information, which promotes self-confidence and skills, both in the care of family members and in relation to their own needs. Methods: Partners from eight European countries participated in this project, including ESS|P.PORTO, in the period between 01/11/2018 and 31/10/2020. Results: This project resulted in the creation of a Guide and Resource Pack for training informal caregivers, accessible through a free online platform that can be accessed through a mobile application. All materials were produced in multiple languages and widely disseminated. Conclusion: The products and contents are still available, with an estimated strong impact on the training of informal caregivers, improving their quality of life.
- Seabird abundance and distribution off western iberian waters estimated through aerial surveysPublication . Araújo, Hélder; Rodrigues, Pedro; Bastos Santos, Jorge; Ferreira, Marisa; Pereira, Andreia; Martinez Cedeira, Jose; Vingada, José; Eira, CatarinaWestern Iberian waters are important migratory flyways, stopover sites, and wintering areas for several of the world’s seabird species. To describe seabird species composition, distribution, and abundance in these waters, we performed six aerial surveys in September and/or October of each year, 2010–2015, covering 74 840 km2. Using line transect methodology, 27 396 seabird sightings from 17 taxonomic groups were recorded along 10 496.3 nautical miles (19 433 km). Using the program “Distance,” annual and overall abundance estimates were obtained for nine taxonomic groups: Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus, Great Shearwater Ardenna gravis, Cory’s Shearwater Calonectris borealis, shearwaters, Northern Gannet Morus bassanus, Sabine’s Gull Xema sabini, Great Skua Stercorarius skua, storm petrels, and Red Phalarope Phalaropus fulicarius. For the six-year period, Northern Gannet was the most abundant species (89 630 individuals, coefficient of variation [CV] = 6.28%), followed by Cory’s Shearwater (25 044 individuals, CV = 7.56%) and Balearic Shearwater (13 632 individuals, CV = 20.81%). The remaining taxonomic groups exhibited variable abundances. Results confirm that the study area is important to several seabird species, providing baseline estimates to inform conservation policies and instruments, such as the Birds Directive or the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.
- Mad@ work mental health and productivity boosting in the workplacePublication . Rocha, Nuno; Rodrigues, Matilde; Ferreira, SimãoOur work life is changing rapidly. Globalization is ramping up competition, and digitalization is transforming all but the simplest manual labor into knowledge work. These changes don’t come without a price – and it seems that the price is paid in an increase of stress and burnout. The cost of work-related stress in Europe was estimated to be around 200 billion annually and, in the USA, job stress alone is estimated to cost companies approximately 300 billion dollars a year. To face the high costs, the key to success requires tackling the work stress-related issues, first, in an individual level. This project aims to develop novel stress detection solutions for workplaces, which will help to manage and reduce stress in the work context and build safe, positive, and productive work environments. Existing technologies for stress detection have been developed in relatively short-term studies and are not practical and/or mature enough for continuous, real-life usage. To overcome these shortcomings, we will develop novel solutions to detect workplace problems and stress, convenient for long-term real-life use. Pilots in real workplaces will be conducted to achieve project goals and to evaluate developed solutions. Ultimately, our goal is to support and mitigate ongoing transformation, helping individuals flourish and companies thrive, paving the way for healthier workplaces where people throw up their arms, not in frustration or anger but inspiration and excitement.