Cookies Policy
The website need some cookies and similar means to function. If you permit us, we will use those means to collect data on your visits for aggregated statistics to improve our service. Find out More
Accept Reject
  • Menu
Publications

2022

A low-cost, low-power and low-size multi-parameter station for real-time and online monitoring of the coastal area

Authors
Matos, T; Rocha, JL; Dinis, H; Faria, CL; Martins, MS; Henriques, R; Goncalves, LM;

Publication
2022 OCEANS HAMPTON ROADS

Abstract
The seashore is the front door to the oceans and the sustain of many societies. However, humans still seem to be unable to unlock new paradigms to project sustainable growth of marine and coastal ecosystems. One of the reasons for this is the lack of knowledge about the natural processes that systematically change their balance. Thus, a new generation of tools is needed to gather data to validate and predict geostatistical models and protect this important resource. This manuscript reports the design and validation of a multi-parameter marine station installed in the estuary of Cavado - Portugal. For the last two years, the station has hosted several own-developed sensors to monitor water parameters, and it was designed to send the monitoring data, in real-time, to a public website so the information can be shared with the communities. So far, the monitoring station has been able to produce data about hydraulic and environmental dynamics, such as water column height or sediment displacement, as well as seasonal events and other extreme phenomena occurrences such as floods. The proposed monitoring system, built in a low-power and low-cost philosophy, aims to allow massive replication all over the coastal areas and to deliver qualitative and quantitative data for better management and planning of the littoral.

2022

Adaptive Database Synchronization for an Online Analytical Cloud-to-Edge Continuum

Authors
Costa, D; Pereira, J; Vilaca, R; Faria, N;

Publication
37TH ANNUAL ACM SYMPOSIUM ON APPLIED COMPUTING

Abstract
Wide availability of edge computing platforms, as expected in emerging 5G networks, enables a computing continuum between centralized cloud services and the edge of the network, close to end-user devices. This is particularly appealing for online analytics as data collected by devices is made available for decisionmaking. However, cloud-based parallel-distributed data processing platforms are not able to directly access data on the edge. This can be circumvented, at the expense of freshness, with data synchronization that periodically uploads data to the cloud for processing. In this work, we propose an adaptive database synchronization system that makes distributed data in edge nodes available dynamically to the cloud by balancing between reducing the amount of data that needs to be transmitted and the computational effort needed to do so at the edge. This adapts to the availability of CPU and network resources as well as to the application workload.

2022

Greening a Post-Industrial City: Applying Keyword Extractor Methods to Monitor a Fast-Changing Environmental Narrative

Authors
Luria, S; Campos, R;

Publication
Unlocking Environmental Narratives: Towards Understanding Human Environment Interactions through Computational Text Analysis

Abstract

2022

A Novel Approach for Send Time Prediction on Email Marketing

Authors
Araújo, C; Soares, C; Pereira, I; Coelho, D; Rebelo, MÂ; Madureira, A;

Publication
Applied Sciences (Switzerland)

Abstract
In the digital world, the demand for better interactions between subscribers and companies is growing, creating the need for personalized and individualized experiences. With the exponential growth of email usage over the years, broad flows of campaigns are sent and received by subscribers, which reveals itself to be a problem for both companies and subscribers. In this work, subscribers are segmented by their behaviors and profiles, such as (i) open rates, (ii) click-through rates, (iii) frequency, and (iv) period of interactions with the companies. Different regressions are used: (i) Random Forest Regressor, (ii) Multiple Linear Regression, (iii) K-Neighbors Regressor, and (iv) Support Vector Regressor. All these regressions’ results were aggregated into a final prediction achieved by an ensemble approach, which uses averaging and stacking methods. The use of Long Short-Term Memory is also considered in the presented case. The stacking model obtained the best performance, with an R (Formula presented.) score of 0.91 and a Mean Absolute Error of 0.204. This allows us to estimate the week’s days with a half-day error difference. This work presents promising results for subscriber segmentation based on profile information for predicting the best period for email marketing. In the future, subscribers can be segmented using the Recency, Frequency and Monetary value, the Lifetime Value, or Stream Clustering approaches that allow more personalized and tailored experiences for subscribers. The latter tracks segments over time without costly recalculations and handles continuous streams of new observations without the necessity to recompile the entire model. © 2022 by the authors.

2022

Medical rescuers’ occupational health during COVID-19: Contribution of coping and emotion regulation on burnout, trauma and post-traumatic growth

Authors
Fonseca, SM; Cunha, S; Campos, R; Faria, S; Silva, M; Ramos, MJ; Azevedo, G; Barbosa, AR; Queirós, C;

Publication
Análise Psicológica

Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic places unique challenges to medical rescuers’ occupational health. Thus, it is crucial to assess its direct and indirect impacts on key psychological outcomes and adaptation strategies. This study aims to analyse the impact of this pandemic on medical rescuers’ coping and emotion regulation strategies, and their levels of work-related psychological outcomes, such as burnout, trauma and post-traumatic growth. Additionally, it aims to analyse the contribution of coping and emotion regulation strategies, employed to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, on burnout, trauma and post-traumatic growth. A sample of 111 medical rescuers answered the Brief Cope, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, Impact of Event Scale-Revised and Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory. Medical rescuers resorted moderately to coping and emotion regulation strategies, since the beginning of COVID-19. They presented moderate burnout and post-traumatic growth and low trauma. Coping presented a higher weight on burnout, trauma and post-traumatic growth, than emotion regulation. Expressive suppression and dysfunctional coping predicted burnout and trauma, and problem and emotion-focused coping predicted post-traumatic growth. Dysfunctional coping mediated and, thus, exacerbated the effect of expressive suppression on burnout and on trauma. Practitioners should pay closer attention to professionals with higher burnout and trauma. Occupational practices should focus on reducing dysfunctional coping and expressive suppression and promoting problem-focused coping.

2022

Ergonomics and Safety in the Design of Industrial Collaborative Robotics: A Systematic Literature Review

Authors
Pinheiro, S; Correia Simões, A; Pinto, A; Van Acker, BB; Bombeke, K; Romero, D; Vaz, M; Santos, J;

Publication
Studies in Systems, Decision and Control

Abstract
Objective: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify relevant ergonomic and safety factors for designing collaborative workspaces in industrial settings. Background: The growing use of smart and collaborative robots in manufacturing brings some challenges for the human-robot interaction design. Human-centered manufacturing solutions will improve physical and mental well-being, performance, productivity and sustainability. Method: A systematic review of the literature was performed based on the protocol of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Results: After a search in the databases Scopus and Web of Science, applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 33 publications in the English language, published between the years 2010 and 2020, remained in the final analysis. Publications were categorized in cognitive ergonomic factors (13), safety factors (10), physical ergonomic factors (6) and organizational ergonomic factors (4). The analysis of results reinforced that to optimize the design of collaborative workstations it is imperative to have a holistic perspective of collaboration, integrating multiple key factors from areas such as engineering, ergonomics, safety, sociology and psychological as well as manufacturing efficiency and productivity. Application: Considering the advantages of the use of cobots in manufacturing, the results of this review will be useful to support companies in implementing human-robot collaboration. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

  • 648
  • 4206