Abstract
Nowadays, the usage of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in order to ease the interaction with software applications is preferred over command line interfaces. Despite recent advances in software testing, GUIs are still tested in a complete ad-hoc, manual fashion, with little support from (industrial) testing tools. Automating the process of testing GUIs has additional challenges when compared to command-line applications. This paper presents an approach for GUI (semi-automated) testing which uses knowledge of the common behaviour of a GUI. To do so, the most common aspects in a GUI are identified and then a suite of test cases is automatically generated and executed. To validate our approach, we have run it against well known web-based applications, such as GMail. © 2010 IEEE.

Abstract
The development of Intelligent Environments is a complex challenge. This complexity arises, in part, from the amount of different devices that need to be seamlessly integrated in a common and homogeneous environment, despite the fact of each device having its own characteristics. This heterogeneity of devices is particularly risky when one passes from the specification to the implementation phase, where all unexpected things start to happen. Multi-agent systems are the paradigm par excellence for implementing Intelligent Environments. However, traditionally, agents are only used at the implementation phase. In this paper we propose a new 3 step approach in which agents are used during all the development process, playing undoubtedly a much more preponderant role and making the path from the specification to the implementation a much easier and controllable one, always having in mind the challenges of the development of Intelligent Environments.

Abstract
In the last years we have witnessed to a substantial increase on the number of people in need of care services, especially among the elderly, a phenomenon related to population ageing. However, this is becoming not exclusive of the elderly, as diseases like obesity, diabetes, and blood pressure have been increasing amongst young adults. This is a new reality which needs to be dealt by the healthcare sector, specifically the public one. Given these new scenarios, the importance of finding new and cost-effective ways for health care delivery are of particular relevance, especially when it is believed that these new patients should not be removed from their natural, day-to-day life, environment. The evolution of the, so called, new technologies may pay here a very important role as they may become part of the solution for this new problematic. Actually, they are already been used as, in recent years, several projects have raised in this relatively new area of work. These projects, although legitimate ones, were essential for delineating a path to pursue for others to come, as they were in some case, very simple ones (e.g. panic buttons), and, especially, reactive ones. In this paper, we are going to present how we are trying to evolve these projects a step further, through the introduction of proactiveness as a key factor, taking advantage of "new", as in applied to this areas, techniques of decision making, idea generation, argumentation and data quality, applied, not only to the in transit information, but also to the one provided by the several intervenient as well as themselves. In order to be able to pursue this delineated path, a new approach for knowledge representation, reasoning, and even for problem solving is proposed. To achieve these goals, the VirtualECare environment is presented, together with its sustaining infrastructure and architecture. Particular attention will be paidto how it may be used to simulate a virtual Assisted Living Environment in order to, later, better monitor real ones, attending to its customers' needs.

Abstract
The development of intelligent environments poses complex challenges, namely at the level of device heterogeneity and environment dynamics. In fact, we still lack supporting technologies and development approaches that can efficiently integrate different devices and technologies. In this paper we present how a recent integration of two important technologies, OSGi and Jade, can be used to significantly improve the development process, making it a more dynamic, modular and configurable one. We also focus on the main advantages that this integration provides to developers, from the Ambient Intelligence point of view. This work results from the development of two intelligent environments: VirtualECare, which is an intelligent environment for the monitorization of elderly in their homes and UMCourt, a virtual environment for dispute resolution.

Abstract
In this work we intend to advance towards a computational model to hold up a Group Decision Support System for VirtualECare, a system aimed at sustaining online healthcare services, where Extended Logic Programs (ELP) will be used for knowledge representation and reasoning. Under this scenario it is possible to evaluate the ELPs making in terms of the Quality-of-Information (QoI) that is assigned to them, along the several stages of the decision making process, which is given as a truth value in the interval 0 ... 1, i.e., it is possible to provide a measure of the value of the QoI that supports the decision making process, an end in itself. It will be also considered the problem of QoI evaluation in a multicriteria decision setting, being the criteria to be fulfilled that of a Clinical Guideline (CG) for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Abstract
In critical areas such as decision making, the Collaborative Work has an uttermost importance. Being a complex problem, the collective decision taking is currently a popular form of taking decisions. In this work we present the VirtualECare project: an intelligent multi-agent system able to monitor, interact and serve its customers (in need of care services). In developed countries, recent census data report a sudden increase in the elderly community together with a decrease of child birth. This is a new reality that needs to be dealt by the health sector, particularly by the public one. In an early stage, this new situation appears mostly as a financial problem. The costs involved in the health care are considerable. Thus, alternative technological solutions that lead to straightforward solutions should be adopted. Recently, a growing interest in combining the advances in information society - computing, telecommunications and presentation - to create Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS), has been observed. It is our view that the use of the GDSS in the health care area will pursue the achievement of better results in terms of patients Electronically Clinical Profile (ECP). Additionally, we believe that the best way of managing health appointments is through the use of calendars - one application that can manage both the physicians and patients calendars and consequently their day schedule. Within this area, the approaches used in the VirtualECare and iGenda projects are presented. © 2010 IEEE.