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Publications

2016

Information, knowledge and collaboration management in the internationalisation of SMEs: A systematic literature review

Authors
Costa, E; Soares, AL; de Sousa, JP;

Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Abstract
Information and knowledge can be seen as key resources for improving the internationalisation processes of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Collaboration has also been considered as an important facilitator of these processes, particularly by nurturing information and knowledge sharing. However, the current literature is unclear about the way SMEs can access information and assimilate knowledge in a collaborative network context, to support decision-making. This paper systematically reviews the literature, examining the role of information, knowledge and collaboration in internationalisation decisions of SMEs. To this end, 38 relevant journal articles were analysed, with the identification of some important issues, as well as gaps in the existing empirical knowledge. This analysis provided valuable input for the development of research suggestions and directions for future work in this area.

2016

User interface design guidelines for smartphone applications for people with Parkinson's disease

Authors
Nunes, F; Silva, PA; Cevada, J; Barros, AC; Teixeira, L;

Publication
UNIVERSAL ACCESS IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is often responsible for difficulties in interacting with smartphones; however, research has not yet addressed these issues and how these challenge people with Parkinson's (PwP). This paper specifically investigates the symptoms and characteristics of PD that may influence the interaction with smartphones to then contribute in this direction. The research was based on a literature review of PD symptoms, eight semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals and observations of PwP, and usability experiments with 39 PwP. Contributions include a list of PD symptoms that may influence the interaction with smartphones, a set of experimental results that evaluated the performance of four gestures tap, swipe, multiple-tap, and drag and 12 user interface design guidelines for creating smartphone user interfaces for PwP. Findings contribute to the work of researchers and practitioners' alike engaged in designing user interfaces for PwP or the broader area of inclusive design.

2016

Classification Model for Cardiotocographies

Authors
Pereira, A; Salgado, F; Reis, LP; Faria, BM;

Publication
2016 11TH IBERIAN CONFERENCE ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES (CISTI)

Abstract
Cardiotocography is a diagnostic exam performed from the 28th week of pregnancy that registers the fetus cardiac frequency and uterine contractions. From this exam results a cardiotocogram whose reading and observation of the patterns contained in it allow an evaluation of the baby's condition and the fetal vitality in the maternal womb. This work aims the creation of a classification model using Learning Algorithms/Data Mining using the tool Rapid Miner. The subject of study was a Data Set with information registered from a total of 2126 cardiotograms, with 23 attributes, properly classified by 3 specialized obstetricians as to the baby status, in three possible states, namely: N = Normal; S = Suspect; P = Pathologic. All models tested showed an overall accuracy greater than 80%. Therefore the usefulness of creating predictive models for the classification of this type of diagnosis is great.

2016

Non-Parametric Contextual Stochastic Search

Authors
Abdolmaleki, A; Lau, N; Reis, LP; Neumann, G;

Publication
2016 IEEE/RSJ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT ROBOTS AND SYSTEMS (IROS 2016)

Abstract
Stochastic search algorithms are black-box optimizer of an objective function. They have recently gained a lot of attention in operations research, machine learning and policy search of robot motor skills due to their ease of use and their generality. Yet, many stochastic search algorithms require relearning if the task or objective function changes slightly to adapt the solution to the new situation or the new context. In this paper, we consider the contextual stochastic search setup. Here, we want to find multiple good parameter vectors for multiple related tasks, where each task is described by a continuous context vector. Hence, the objective function might change slightly for each parameter vector evaluation of a task or context. Contextual algorithms have been investigated in the field of policy search, however, the search distribution typically uses a parametric model that is linear in the some hand-defined context features. Finding good context features is a challenging task, and hence, non-parametric methods are often preferred over their parametric counter-parts. In this paper, we propose a non-parametric contextual stochastic search algorithm that can learn a non-parametric search distribution for multiple tasks simultaneously. In difference to existing methods, our method can also learn a context dependent covariance matrix that guides the exploration of the search process. We illustrate its performance on several non-linear contextual tasks.

2016

Fibroblast growth factor 23 is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy, not with uremic vasculopathy in peritoneal dialysis patients

Authors
Sarmento Dias, M; Santos Araujo, C; Poinhos, R; Oliveira, B; Sousa, MJ; Silva, LS; Silva, IS; Correia, F; Pestana, M;

Publication
CLINICAL NEPHROLOGY

Abstract
Aims: Cardiovascular (CV) events are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), including those patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD). Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) has been associated with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and mortality in patients with CKD. However, the role of FGF23 in uremic vasculopathy remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to assess the relationship between FGF23 and LVH, endothelial dysfunction, vascular calcification, and arterial stiffness in 48 stable PD patients. Methods: Left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was assessed using 2-D echocardiography. Intact FGF23 blood levels were evaluated using an ELISA kit (Immutopics, Inc., San Clemente, CA, USA). Reactive hyperemia index (RHI) is a surrogate marker of endothelial dysfunction and the augmentation index (AI) is a surrogate marker of arterial stiffness. Both were assessed using peripheral arterial tonometry (EndoPAT 2000). Vascular calcification (VC) was assessed using the Adragao score. Results: In unadjusted analysis; FGF23 was positively correlated with serum Pi (r = 0.487, p < 0.001), serum urea (r = 0.351, p = 0.015), serum creatinine (r = 0.535, p < 0.001), dialysis vintage (r = 0.309, p = 0.033), and LVMI (r = 0.369, p = 0.027) and was negatively correlated with age (r = -0.343, p = 0.017), residual renal function (r = -0.359, p < 0.012), and AI (r = -0.304, p = 0.038). In multivariate adjusted analysis, FGF23 was associated with LVMI (beta = 0.298, p = 0.041), serum Pi (beta = 0.345, p = 0.018), and age (beta = -0.372, p = 0.007) independent of dialysis vintage, gender, residual renal function (RRF), albumin, C-reactive protein and systolic blood pressure. There were no associations found between FGF23 and RHI, AI, or VC in multivariable-adjusted models. Conclusions: Our results show that FGF23 is associated with LVH but not with endothelial dysfunction, arterial stiffness, or vascular calcification in PD patients.

2016

Hybrid Discrete Evolutionary PSO for AC Dynamic Transmission Expansion Planning

Authors
Gomes, PV; Saraiva, JT;

Publication
2016 IEEE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CONFERENCE (ENERGYCON)

Abstract
Multiyear Transmission Expansion Planning (TEP) aims to determine how and when a transmission network capacity should be expanded taking into account an extended horizon. This is an optimization problem very difficult to solve and that has unique characteristics that increase its complexity such as its non-convex search space and its integer and nonlinear nature. This paper describes a hybrid tool to solve the TEP problem, including a first phase to select a list of equipment candidates conducted by a Constructive Heuristic Algorithm (CHA), and a second phase that uses Discrete Evolutionary Particle Swarm Optimization (DEPSO) for the final planning. Both phases use the AC power flow model as a way to improve the realism of the developed tool. The paper includes a case study based on the IEEE 24-Bus Reliability Test System and the results show that tools based on swarm intelligence applied to reduced search spaces are able to find good quality solutions with low computational effort.

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