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Publications

2023

Integrated System for Pressure Ulcers Monitoring and Prevention

Authors
Fonseca, L; Reinaldo, F; Metrôlho, J; Fidalgo, F; Dionísio, R; Silva, A; Santos, O; Amini, M;

Publication
Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems

Abstract
Pressure ulcers are a critical issue for patients and healthcare professionals, requiring their frequent monitoring, with a consequent impact on healthcare costs. This problem has been gaining attention and approaches have been proposed, using sensor-based systems, to facilitate this monitoring and help health caregivers to achieve greater effectiveness in the treatment of this type of ulcer. In this paper, the architecture, and the prototype of a new system for pressure ulcer monitoring and prevention are presented. It considers information related to both intrinsic and extrinsic predisposing factors and it addresses the components of data acquisition, data analysis, and production of complementary support to well-informed clinical decision-making. The system includes a pressure ulcer management portal and a mobile application, that allows caregivers to manage clinical information about pressure ulcers of the patients and uses data acquired from a pressure sensor sheet under the mattress to provide useful information for monitoring the patients. Considering the situation of each patient, the system will produce indicators/alerts to healthcare professionals, simultaneously improving pressure-ulcer patient care quality and safety and minimizing the burnout in healthcare professionals. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

2023

Phytotoxic activity of Ulex europaeus, an invasive plant on Chilean ecosystems: separation and identification of potential allelochemicals

Authors
López-Rodríguez A.; Hernández M.; Carrillo-Galvez A.; Becerra J.; Hernández V.;

Publication
Natural Product Research

Abstract
Despite its worldwide relevance as an invasive plant, there are few studies on Ulex europaeus (gorse) and its allelopathic activity is almost unexplored. The allelochemical profile of gorse was analysed through methanolic extract of pods and roots, and its phytotoxic effects on Lactuca sativa germination. The methanolic extract of pods had no effect in germination, while extract of roots resulted in a U-shaped dose-response curve: reducing the germination at concentration 0.5 mg mL-1. GC-MS analysis detected compounds with proven antimicrobial and antioxidant activities in the pods and cytotoxic compounds in the roots, which could explain the bioassay results. The quinolizidine alkaloids (QAs) composition was evaluated to predict possible biological functions. It showed the presence of QAs in gorse that are absent in their native range, indicating broad defense strategies against bacteria, fungi, plants, and insects in the Chilean ecosystem. This could explain the superiority of gorse in the invaded areas.

2023

The INOVMineral Project's Contribution to Mineral Exploration-A WebGIS Integration and Visualization of Spectral and Geophysical Properties of the Aldeia LCT Pegmatite Spodumene Deposit

Authors
Cardoso Fernandes, J; Santos, D; de Almeida, CR; Vasques, JT; Mendes, A; Ribeiro, R; Azzalini, A; Duarte, L; Moura, R; Lima, A; Teodoro, AC;

Publication
MINERALS

Abstract
Due to the current energetic transition, new geological exploration technologies are needed to discover mineral deposits containing critical materials such as lithium (Li). The vast majority of European Li deposits are related to Li-Cs-Ta (LCT) pegmatites. A review of the literature indicates that conventional exploration campaigns are dominated by geochemical surveys and related exploration tools. However, other exploration techniques must be evaluated, namely, remote sensing (RS) and geophysics. This work presents the results of the INOVMINERAL4.0 project obtained through alternative approaches to traditional geochemistry that were gathered and integrated into a webGIS application. The specific objectives were to: (i) assess the potential of high-resolution elevation data; (ii) evaluate geophysical methods, particularly radiometry; (iii) establish a methodology for spectral data acquisition and build a spectral library; (iv) compare obtained spectra with Landsat 9 data for pegmatite identification; and (v) implement a user-friendly webGIS platform for data integration and visualization. Radiometric data acquisition using geophysical techniques effectively discriminated pegmatites from host rocks. The developed spectral library provides valuable insights for space-based exploration. Landsat 9 data accurately identified known LCT pegmatite targets compared with Landsat 8. The user-friendly webGIS platform facilitates data integration, visualization, and sharing, supporting potential users in similar exploration approaches.

2023

Industry and innovation in the Alto Minho region: assessing regional performance

Authors
Abreu, M; Rodrigues, HS; Silva, Â; Garcia, JE;

Publication
Engineering Management in Production and Services

Abstract
Abstract As a tool, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) guide local and regional leaders in developing policy approaches for better social development. SDGs are 17 ambitious objectives towards a greener, healthier, more peaceful and equal planet, promoted by the United Nations to achieve by 2030. Having this performance in mind, countries and regions can measure their level of SDG implementation and rethink how they could promote prosperity, cooperation among regions and progress. This study focuses on SDG-9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure in ten municipalities of the Alto Minho region, Portugal. The main idea is to assess the level of each municipality in the achievement of the indicators related to this SDG. The similarities and differences between the municipalities can underline areas for joint efforts or investments in the development policy. This paper selected a performance analysis as a tool for informing on the amount of effort required to achieve SDG-9 at a local level, i.e., the Alto Minho region in the north of Portugal. If the trend of evolution is maintained, only Viana do Castelo will reach the full range of indicators for SDG-9, and Caminha will have 50 % of the indicators achieved. The remaining municipalities will reach at least half of the indicators, thus achieving a value lower than half of the target value. This approach could be replicated in other SDGs and other regions. This assessment allows the region’s stakeholders to indicate areas of required action to achieve the SDG.

2023

Synthesizing Human Activity for Data Generation

Authors
Romero, A; Carvalho, P; Corte-Real, L; Pereira, A;

Publication
JOURNAL OF IMAGING

Abstract
The problem of gathering sufficiently representative data, such as those about human actions, shapes, and facial expressions, is costly and time-consuming and also requires training robust models. This has led to the creation of techniques such as transfer learning or data augmentation. However, these are often insufficient. To address this, we propose a semi-automated mechanism that allows the generation and editing of visual scenes with synthetic humans performing various actions, with features such as background modification and manual adjustments of the 3D avatars to allow users to create data with greater variability. We also propose an evaluation methodology for assessing the results obtained using our method, which is two-fold: (i) the usage of an action classifier on the output data resulting from the mechanism and (ii) the generation of masks of the avatars and the actors to compare them through segmentation. The avatars were robust to occlusion, and their actions were recognizable and accurate to their respective input actors. The results also showed that even though the action classifier concentrates on the pose and movement of the synthetic humans, it strongly depends on contextual information to precisely recognize the actions. Generating the avatars for complex activities also proved problematic for action recognition and the clean and precise formation of the masks.

2023

A Comparison of Point Set Registration Algorithms for Quantification of Change in Spatiotemporal Data

Authors
Gomes M.; De Carvalho A.V.; Oliveira M.A.; Carneiro E.;

Publication
Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies, CISTI

Abstract
Point Set Registration (PSR) algorithms have very different underlying theoretical models to define a process that calculates the alignment solution between two point clouds. The selection of a particular PSR algorithm can be based on the efficiency (time to compute the alignment) and accuracy (a measure of error using the estimated alignment). In our specific context, previous work used a CPD algorithm to detect and quantify change in spatiotemporal datasets composed of moving and shape-changing objects represented by a sequence of time stamped 2D polygon boundaries. Though the results were promising, we question if the selection of a particular PSR algorithm influences the results of detection and quantification of change. In this work we review and compare several PSR algorithms, characterize test datasets and used metrics, and perform tests for the selected datasets. The results show pyCPD and cyCPD implementations of CPD to be good alternatives and that BCPD can have potential to be yet another alternative. The results also show that detection and quantification accuracy change for some of the tested PSR implementations.

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