Abstract
Peripheral nerve injury and regeneration is a challenging scientific field with relevant clinical implications. Most peripheral nerve regeneration studies have been mainly carried out on rodents. However, it is important to note that the validity of the rodent as a model to study nerve injury and regeneration and translate these results into clinical practice has been questioned by several researchers. To overcome this problem, some investigators have used companion animals and large animal species as models for experimental peripheral nerve regeneration studies. Live sheep are often used in biomedical research because of availability, simplicity of care and housing, cost and body weight similar to humans and acceptance by society as a research animal. Despite these advantages, studies on nerve regeneration and repair in sheep have only been undertaken a few decades ago and compared to rat and mice experimental studies, there are much fewer investigations. The authors have compiled and sorted the available literature on experimental ovine nerve studies in order to guide the peripheral nerve investigator in choosing clinically relevant and interpretable models for studies on neural regeneration that are much needed in order to make progress towards new surgical and medical treatment of peripheral nerves.

Abstract
Of all the detrimental effects of spinal cord injury (SCI), one of the most devastating is the disruption of the ability to perform functional movement. Very little is known on the recovery of hindlimb joint kinematics after clinically-relevant contusive thoracic lesion in experimental animal models. A new functional assessment instrument, the dynamic feet distance (DFD) was used to describe the distance between the two feet throughout the gait cycle in normal and affected rodents. The purpose of this investigation was the evaluation and characterization of the DFD during treadmill locomotion in normal and T9 contusion injured rats, using three-dimensional (3D) instrumented gait analysis. Despite that normal and injured rats showed a similar pattern in the fifth metatarsal head joints distance excursion, we found a significantly wider distance between the feet during the entire gait cycle following spinal injury. This is the first study to quantify the distance between the two feet, throughout the gait cycle, and the biomechanical adjustments made between limbs in laboratory rodents after nervous system injury.

Abstract
In this study an application to assist people with speech impairments in their speech therapy sessions is presented. AppVox simulates a vocalizer (audio stimulus feature) that can be used to train speech by repeating different words. In this paper, we aim at presenting the application as an assistive technology option and assess if this is a usable option for digital interaction for children with speech impairment. To assess the application we present a case study in which the participants were asked to perform tasks using the AppVox application. The results showed that this group of participants attained a good performance when interacting with the application.

Abstract
In this paper, a Web application that allows people with speech impairments to train and amend pronunciation of words by repeating words presented in a interface with visual and auditory stimuli, is presented. With this app, we aim at present a training assistive tool to be used by the user, in a daily situation, where the main asset is the feedback about the rate of correct pronunciation, thus allowing users to train, autonomously, at home. Additionally, we present a preliminary user study to assess usability of the proposed application. For that, we invited a group of people with speech impairments to perform training tasks with the application. In the assessment, we register the following parameters: effectiveness (successful conclusion of the training tasks and percentage of pronouncing success); efficiency (number of errors made, number and type of difficulties found); and, satisfaction (the acceptance and comfort to complete the training tasks). Overall, the preliminary results showed that participants achieved an efficiency rate of 53.4% in the accomplishment of the proposed tasks. On average, for each image, participants missed at least 2 times, where the most registered difficulty was the pronunciation of words with accents. Regarding satisfaction, we noticed that they like it as they ask not only to repeat the test but also the addition of more pictures to perform more tests with the proposed web application.

Abstract
The research activities in a Higher Education Institution (HEI) is highly dependent of the development of research projects. Most times, these projects have, at the core of their workforce, scholarship fellows financed by the project budget and responsible for the execution of very specific research tasks. The procurement process, leading to the contracting of these fellows, evolves several internal bureaus, from several organic units of the HEI, in a complex and long process. This work reports on the development of system to support this process. The solution was integrated in the HEI ecosystem in a harmonious manner, by implementing the necessary features and using the other HEI systems features when possible. After a year, the scholarship management system has proved a success, providing the user features to conduct the process as well as the management analytics to proper support the governance of the research area.

Abstract
The University of Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro is part of a consortium that is providing courses in an e-learning model. In this courses, the students' evaluation requires their physical presence. Currently, the consortium has the general objective of provide evaluation activities in all of the consortium's institutions, independently of the student's Higher Education Institution (HEI) of origin. That way, the student can go through the learning process on-line, using the Learning Management System (LMS), and attend an evaluation activity at the HEI geographically more conveniently located. In pursuing this objective, the consortium is creating a set of specific rooms with the sole purpose of supporting the evaluation of e-learning students. These rooms are located in each one of the HEIs, and equipped with thin personal computers (PC), connected to a local, properly configured, server. These PCs and server will run a customized version of the operating system, in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) model, providing a controlled and safe infrastructure for the usage of the LMS to execute the evaluation activities. In a first phase, it is being created one room in each one of the consortium HEIs. A set of rules and a certification process will be designed, in order to have a standard level of service across all the rooms. Together with the certification process it will also be defined an audit process in order to regularly verify the compliance of the rooms with the previously designed certification standards.