2017
Authors
Renna, F; Oliveira, J; Coimbra, MT;
Publication
2017 COMPUTING IN CARDIOLOGY (CINC)
Abstract
In this work, we present a method to extract features from heart sound signals in order to enhance segmentation performance. The approach is data-driven, since the way features are extracted from the recorded signals is adapted to the data itself. The proposed method is based on the extraction of delay vectors, which are modeled with Gaussian mixture model priors, and an information-theoretic dimensionality reduction step which aims to maximize discrimination between delay vectors in different segments of the heart sound signal. We test our approach with heart sounds from the publicly available PhysioNet dataset showing an average F-1 score of 92.6% in detecting S-1 and S-2 sounds.
2017
Authors
Oliveira, J; Sousa, C; Coimbra, MT;
Publication
2017 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ACOUSTICS, SPEECH AND SIGNAL PROCESSING (ICASSP)
Abstract
Automatic and simultaneous electrocardiogram (ECG) and phonocardiogram (PCG) segmentation is a good example of current challenges when designing multi-channel decision support systems for healthcare. In this paper, we implemented and tested a Montazeri coupled hidden Markov model (CHMM), where two HMM's cooperate to recreate the "true" state sequence. To evaluate its performance, we tested different settings (two fully connected and two partially connected channels) on a real dataset annotated by an expert. The fully connected model achieved 71% of positive predictability (P+) on the ECG channel and 67% of P+ on the PCG channel. The partially connected model achieved 90% of P+ on the ECG channel and 80% of P+ in the PCG channel. These results validate the potential of our approach for real world multichannel application systems.
2017
Authors
Simoes, D; Pinheiro, M; Santos, CA; Filipe, S; Barbosa, B; Dias, GP;
Publication
PROCEEDINGS OF THE HEAD'17 - 3RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION ADVANCES
Abstract
2017
Authors
Santos, CA; Barbosa, B; Filipe, S; Pinheiro, MM; Simoes, D; Dias, GP;
Publication
3RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LIFELONG LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR ALL (ICLEL 2017)
Abstract
This study aims to contribute to the growing literature on teachers' mobility by exploring perceptions and motivations to join
these activities, in particular through the collection of evidence on the impact a first and only exchange experience has had on
the participants. The research adopts a qualitative methodology in the form of phenomenological interviews with 6 teachers
that engaged on only one mobility initiative. The interviewees shared their personal impressions on mobility, including
reasons, facilitators, and outcomes of the experience. Bureaucratic, financial and residual professional impact, are among the
most cited inhibitors for repeating the initiative. However, most of the participants expect to be become involved again on
mobility assignments someday, especially teachers that identified greater impact from this first experience. The analysis
provides interesting clues for international offices, Erasmus coordinators and university top managers, who devote
considerable effort to the promotion and support of mobility practices.
2017
Authors
Barbosa, B; Santos, CA; Filipe, S; Pinheiro, MM; Simoes, D; Dias, GP;
Publication
10TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION (ICERI2017)
Abstract
Internationalization is a broad concept encompassing multiple facets. Higher Education Institutions (HEI) collaborators are key actors of the internationalization process and outcomes, being essential for education managers to promote internationalization initiatives, namely among their teachers. Nevertheless, the literature indicates that the number of teachers involved in those initiatives is still modest. It is therefore of utmost importance to understand how teachers initiate and maintain mobility assignments, so that HEI can implement effective strategies to promote this facet of internationalization. In this paper, we explore the teacher mobility topic through the lens of the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behavior. These two theories have been widely used to explain how people initiate and maintain behaviors, and are particularly relevant to understand teacher mobility. The paper includes results from phenomenological interviews with teachers that had one or more mobility experience under the Erasmus programme. The narratives of the participants in the study evidence the importance of prior intentions, attitudes and subjective norms in the resolution to undertake international assignments. Self-efficacy was also shown as determinant in the decision process of first and subsequent mobility initiatives. This paper also provides cues on how HEI can facilitate and encourage mobility experiences amongst their teaching staff.
2017
Authors
Barbosa, B; Santos, CA; Filipe, S; Pinheiro, MM; Simoes, D; Dias, GP;
Publication
9TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION AND NEW LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES (EDULEARN17)
Abstract
Teachers’ mobility is one of the facets of Higher Education Institutions internationalization, and despite
its importance in implementing the program's purposes it is still disregarded by researchers, with most
mobility studies focusing on students. This research concentrates on highly active mobility teachers
and aims to delve into their experiences, namely by identifying facilitators and goals for this repeated
internationalization and by analyzing the outcomes of these initiatives in their personal lives,
professional activity, home and host students, and for their Universities as a whole.
This study adopts a qualitative exploratory approach. Having as sample universe the teachers of one
Portuguese University that in a 7-year period (2009-2016) engaged in mobility experiences under the
Erasmus program (N = 107), 8 were identified as having the highest number of initiatives and were
invited to participate in this study. From these mobility champions, 5 accepted, resulting in 5
phenomenological interviews. Data was collected in January 2017.
The participants shared an integrated view of the Erasmus mobility, being essential for its success the
additional opportunities of joint research and the strengthening of international relationships and
networks. Prior relations with teachers from the host University and ongoing research projects stood
out among the facilitators. The opportunity to observe and get to know other cultural settings was also
mentioned as one determinant stimulus. Still, the outcomes in terms of teaching methodologies and
best practices as well an effective impact in home students seemed residual. Moreover, the ability to
encourage other teachers to join the program was very limited, often confined to close colleagues and
research partners.
Despite its exploratory nature, this study demonstrates the relevance of further research on mobility
champions to assess the success and possible pitfalls of repeated mobility experiences in terms of
extended institutional outcomes and well as individual gratification of the teachers involved. Based on
the results, we suggest the consideration of a wider set of outcomes in the appraisal of mobility
initiatives, as well as the widespread of champions’ insights on the topic in order to motivate
inexperienced teachers to embrace internationalization. Hopefully this paper is able to inspire not only
research but also teaching mobility initiatives.
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