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Publications

2013

Web Accessibility - From the Evaluation and Analysis to the Implementation - The anoGov/PEPPOL Case

Authors
Gonçalves, R; Martins, J; Branco, F; Barroso, J;

Publication
HCI (7)

Abstract
The XXI Century society has developed a drive for Information and the Web, as one of the extremely important technologies of our times, represents the main channel to access it. As a result of this, one can perceive that the Web, and the inherent websites, must be accessible to all, in order to maintain the imperative social equality. Despite the legal requirements to the Portuguese Web content accessibility levels, in effect since 1999, the existent studies that focused on assessing those same levels of accessibility reported that the Portuguese websites, in their majority, were not compliant with the existent standards. In mid-2007 we started, within our research group and in partnership with both UMIC - Knowledge Society Agency and APDSI - Association for the Promotion and Development of the Information Society, a Web accessibility barometer. The goal of this barometer has been assessing the accessibility levels of the Portuguese websites, creating recommendations - for both the organizations and the civil society - towards the improvement of the referred websites, and publicly presenting the achieved results. One of the Portuguese enterprises that is adopting the accessibility standards into its public procurement platform anoGov is ANO. This company established a research project alongside UTAD University in order to achieve technical know-how and good practices that allowed them to develop accessible and usable Web content. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

2013

A pilot project on non-conventional learning

Authors
Fernandes, S; Cerone, A; Barbosa, LS;

Publication
ITiCSE

Abstract
This poster presents a pilot project on non-conventional learning strategies based on students' active participation in real-life FLOSS projects. The aim of the project is to validate the hypothesis that the peer-production model, which underlies most FLOSS projects, can enhance the learning-teaching process based on extensive and systematic collaborative practices. Consisting of a semester-long experiment with a class of 23 Master Information and Technology (MSc IT) students, organized in small groups, this pilot project aims at exploiting FLOSS communities and the respective FLOSS projects as learning opportunities. This pilot project is part of a course assignment on Teaching Software Engineering in the Master in Informatics taking place during the spring semester of 2013, at the University of Minho, in Portugal. The students participate in real FLOSS projects by choosing one of the following roles: 1) requirement analyst, writing software requirements; 2) programmer, developing source code; or 3) tester, writing bug reports. As a real-life experience conducted with students in Portugal, the project enables the systematic study of the dynamics of peer-to-peer learning and assessment of the didactic value and potential of this kind of non-standard learning experiences. Moreover, as a beneficial side effect, students have the opportunity to experience full immersion in a real FLOSS community and learn about project management and organized participation.

2013

A Stent-Graft Endoleakage Monitor: Telemetry System Based on Inductive-Coupling Transmission for Implantable Pressure Sensors

Authors
Oliveira, C; Almeida, N; da Silva, JM;

Publication
2013 IEEE 3RD PORTUGUESE MEETING IN BIOENGINEERING (ENBENG)

Abstract
A direct arterial pressure monitoring system for post EVAR procedure based on inductive-coupling is presented which avoids the need for more complex biomedical imaging systems. Post stent-graft implantation complications, such as endoleaks, can be detected with capacitive pressure sensors placed in the stent-graft and monitored externally after the measurement of the oscillation frequency of a LC resonant circuit created by sensors and inductive coupling. Several measurements were performed in order to characterize the system and compare the results with the expected values based on theoretical models. Different measurements were carried-out with the purpose of evaluating the system's frequency detection accuracy throughout the working bandwidth and varying distances between the reader and the sensors. Both air and a phantom with electrical characteristics similar to the human body were used between the reader and the sensors antennas in order to evaluate the influence of the transmission medium. It is shown that in both cases the system is capable of detecting the oscillation frequencies, even in the case a cluster of sensors is used.

2013

GEARNet: Grammatical Evolution with Artificial Regulatory Networks

Authors
Lopes, RL; Costa, E;

Publication
GECCO'13: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2013 GENETIC AND EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTATION CONFERENCE

Abstract
The Central Dogma of Biology states that genes made proteins that made us. This principle has been revised in order to incorporate the role played by a multitude of regulatory mechanisms that are fundamental in both the processes of inheritance and development. Evolutionary Computation algorithms are inspired by the theories of evolution and development, but most of the computational models proposed so far rely on a simple genotype to phenotype mapping. During the last years some researchers advocate the need to explore computationally the new biological understanding and have proposed different gene expression models to be incorporated in the algorithms. Two examples are the Artificial Regulatory Network (ARN) model, first proposed by Wolfgang Banzhaf, and the Grammatical Evolution (GE) model, introduced by Michael O'Neill and Conor Ryan. In this paper, we show how a modified version of the ARN can be combined with the GE approach, in the context of automatic program generation. More precisely, we rely on the ARN to control the gene expression process ending in an ordered set of proteins, and on the GE to build, guided by a grammar, a computational structure from that set. As a proof of concept we apply the hybrid model to two benchmark problems and show that it is effective in solving them.

2013

Smartphone based fall prevention exercises

Authors
Ferreira, BN; Guimarães, V; Ferreira, HS;

Publication
Healthcom

Abstract
Falling is a very serious problem for our society, as it affects one out of three older adults. Currently, this is a well-known problem and therefore multiple ICT-based solutions for falls management exist. In addition, a small part of them are said to help preventing falls, but most of the reviewed solutions doesn't seem to have their focus in reducing specific fall risk factors like loss of muscle mass or a poor balance. The proposed ICT-based fall prevention solution is based on an existing fall prevention exercise programme specifically designed for the Portuguese population. It takes advantage of the smartphone processing capabilities as well as its built-in inertial sensors to evaluate the movements performed during the execution of specific exercises. Using only a simple smartphone it is possible to provide a friendly and inexpensive solution capable of increasing seniors' adherence to fall prevention exercises as well as raise their motivation to properly execute the exercises in their home environment. © 2013 IEEE.

2013

Compressive Classification

Authors
Reboredo, H; Renna, F; Calderbank, R; Rodrigues, MRD;

Publication
2013 IEEE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON INFORMATION THEORY PROCEEDINGS (ISIT)

Abstract
This paper presents fundamental limits associated with compressive classification of Gaussian mixture source models. In particular, we offer an asymptotic characterization of the behavior of the (upper bound to the) misclassification probability associated with the optimal Maximum-A-Posteriori (MAP) classifier that depends on quantities that are dual to the concepts of diversity gain and coding gain in multi-antenna communications. The diversity, which is shown to determine the rate at which the probability of misclassification decays in the low noise regime, is shown to depend on the geometry of the source, the geometry of the measurement system and their interplay. The measurement gain, which represents the counterpart of the coding gain, is also shown to depend on geometrical quantities. It is argued that the diversity order and the measurement gain also offer an optimization criterion to perform dictionary learning for compressive classification applications.

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