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Publications

2021

Explanatory and Causal Analysis of the Portuguese Manual Balancing Reserve

Authors
Goncalves, C; Ribeiro, M; Viana, J; Fernandes, R; Villar, J; Bessa, R; Correia, G; Sousa, J; Mendes, V; Nunes, AC;

Publication
2021 IEEE MADRID POWERTECH

Abstract
This paper analyzes the activation of the manual balancing reserve of the Portuguese system and its prices for the period 2015-2017. Standard, logistic and LASSO regression models, causal analysis based on Bayesian networks and random forests are applied. Results show that the variables that better explain the activation of the manual reserve are the imbalances of both renewable generation and demand, but surprisingly forecasted with persistence models based on the last verified measurements (available 15 minutes before the reserve activation), instead of using more elaborated models based on production forecasts. Prices, however, are harder to explain suggesting the need for additional information, such as bidding prices not used in this study.

2021

Deep Ordinal Focus Assessment for Whole Slide Images

Authors
Albuquerque, T; Moreira, A; Cardoso, JS;

Publication
2021 IEEE/CVF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER VISION WORKSHOPS (ICCVW 2021)

Abstract
Medical image quality assessment plays an important role not only in the design and manufacturing processes of image acquisition but also in the optimization of decision support systems. This work introduces a new deep ordinal learning approach for focus assessment in whole slide images. From the blurred image to the focused image there is an ordinal progression that contains relevant knowledge for more robust learning of the models. With this new method, it is possible to infer quality without losing ordinal information about focus since instead of using the nominal cross-entropy loss for training, ordinal losses were used. Our proposed model is contrasted against other state-of-the-art methods present in the literature. A first conclusion is a benefit of using data-driven methods instead of knowledge-based methods. Additionally, the proposed model is found to be the top-performer in several metrics. The best performing model scores an accuracy of 94.4% for a 12 classes classification problem in the FocusPath database.

2021

An Integrated Cybernetic Awareness Strategy to Assess Cybersecurity Attitudes and Behaviours in School Context

Authors
Antunes, M; Silva, C; Marques, F;

Publication
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL

Abstract
Digital exposure to the Internet among the younger generations, notwithstanding their digital abilities, has increased and raised the alarm regarding the need to intensify the education on cybersecurity in schools. Understanding of the human factor and its influence on children, namely their attitudes and behaviors online, is pivotal to reinforce their awareness towards cyberattacks, and to promote their digital citizenship. This paper aims to present an integrated cybersecurity and cyberawareness strategy composed of three major steps: (1) Cybersecurity attitude and behavior assessment, (2) self-diagnosis, and (3) teaching/learning activities. The following contributions are made: Two questionnaires to assess risky attitudes and behaviors regarding cybersecurity; a self-diagnosis to measure students' skills on cybersecurity; a lesson plan addressing cyberawareness to be applied on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and citizenship education curricular units. Cybersecurity risky attitudes and behaviors were evaluated in a junior high school population of 164 students attending the sixth and ninth grades. The assessment focused on two main subjects: To identify the attitudes and behaviors that raise the risk on cybersecurity among the participating students; to characterize the acquired students' cybersecurity and cyberawareness skills. Global and individual scores and the histograms for attitudes and behaviors are presented. The items in which we have observed significant differences between sixth and ninth grades are depicted and quantified by their corresponding p-values obtained through the Mann-Whitney non-parametric test. Regarding the results obtained on the assessment of attitudes and behaviors, although positive, we observed that the attitudes and behaviors in ninth grade students are globally inferior compared to those attained by sixth grade students. The deployed strategy for cyberawareness was applied in a school context; however, the same approach is suitable to be applied in other types of organizations, namely enterprises, healthcare institutions and public sector.

2021

Survey on the advancements of dielectric fluids and experiment studies for distribution power transformers

Authors
Carvalhosa, S; Leite, H; Branco, F; Sá, CA; Moura, AM; Lopes, RC; Soares, M;

Publication
Renewable Energy and Power Quality Journal

Abstract
—The main objective of this work is to summarize the most commonly used dielectric fluids in the power distribution transformers, as well as to discuss what are the latest and the rationale behind those trends. The favorable and unfavorable reasons for any choice behind each of those dielectric fluids will be discussed. Additionally, this work also advances the power distribution transformers health index most commonly used to assess the condition of the transformer.

2021

How Prospective International Retired Migrants Use Tourism for Decision Making

Authors
Barbosa, B; Santos, C; Santos, M;

Publication
TOURISM

Abstract
Despite the current importance of international retirement migration for both academics and practitioners, the extant literature on the topic is still scarce and mostly focused on short-period migration flows from wealthy and northern countries to cheaper and warm-weather destinations. This article aims at shedding light on the role of tourism in prospective migrants' decision-making process, considering the framework provided by the push-pull model, which is often used to explain both migration and tourism. A qualitative study was conducted, comprising ten in-depth interviews with 45+ year-old Brazilian citizens who intend to move to Europe after retirement. Results show that tourism is important for prospective migrants to evaluate possible migration destinations, as some of the most relevant migration pull factors (e.g., safety) are easily assessed during tourism experiences. Participants in this study also carefully plan tourism activities prior to their decision to migrate in order to get a more realistic notion of what the destination is like for residents. Overall, this study demonstrates that tourism is particularly important for several stages of migrants' decision-making process.

2021

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FOUR QGIS PLUGINS FOR WEB MAPS CREATION

Authors
Duarte, L; Queiros, C; Teodoro, AC;

Publication
GRANJA-REVISTA DE CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA

Abstract
QGIS is a free and open-source software that allows viewing, editing, and analyzing georeferenced data. It is a Geographic Information System (GIS) software composed by tools that allow to manipulate geographic information and consequently to create maps which help to get a better understanding and organization of geospatial data. Unfortunately, maps created directly in the GIS desktop software are not automatically transferred to a website. This research aimed to compare publishing capabilities in different QGIS plugins to create Web Maps. This study analyzes four QGIS plugins (QGIS2Web, QGIS Cloud, GIS Cloud Publisher and Mappia Publisher), performing a comparison between them, considering their advantages and disadvantages, the free and subscription plans, the tools offered by each plugin and other generic aspects. The four plugins were tested in a specific case study to automatically obtain different Web Maps. This study could help users to choose the most adequate tools to publish Web Maps under QGIS software.

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