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Publications

2021

Application of the Industry 4.0 technologies to mobile learning and health education apps

Authors
Mateus-Coelho, N; Cruz-Cunha, M; Silva-Ávila, P;

Publication
FME Transactions

Abstract
The so-called fourth industrial revolution brought a disruptive change in the way that communication technologies, distributed systems, intelligent data management, analytics and computational capability and other technologies are integrated to enable new functions and enhance capabilities not only to production systems, but also in many other domains such as education. Mobile Health (m-Health) education is one of these, where the number of applications and tools for m-Health education is extensive. The SARS-Cov2 (Covid-19) pandemic brought to life immense challenges towards education, technology, and the symbiosis with medicine. This paper introduces 31 of the current state-of-the-art m-Health education applications and analyses the results of an an inquiry to students and junior doctors during the confinement, designed to understanding their knowledge, use and trust regarding these apps. The results show that several applications are well perceived by their users and deserved their trust and confirms a good relation between use and trust on the applications analysed. This analysis open doors to a deeper study to evaluate at which extent improving m-Health education means not only to transmit knowledge but also to developing skills and better practices.

2021

A Set of Active Disturbance Rejection Controllers Based on Integrator Plus Dead-Time Models

Authors
Huba, M; Oliveira, PM; Bistak, P; Vrancic, D; Zakova, K;

Publication
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL

Abstract
The paper develops and investigates a novel set of constrained-output robust controllers with selectable response smoothing degree designed for an integrator-plus-dead-time (IPDT) plant model. The input-output response of the IPDT system is internally approximated by several time-delayed, possibly higher-order plant models of increasing complexity. Since they all contain a single integrator, the presented approach can be considered as a generalization of active disturbance rejection control (ADRC). Due to the input/output model used, the controller commissioning can be based on a simplified process modeling, similar to the one proposed by Ziegler and Nichols. This allows it to be compared with several alternative controllers commonly used in practice. Its main advantage is simplicity, since it uses only two identified process parameters, even when dealing with more complex systems with distributed parameters. The proposed set of controllers with increasing complexity includes the stabilizing proportional (P), proportional-derivative (PD), or proportional-derivative-acceleration (PDA) controllers. These controllers can be complemented by extended state observers (ESO) for the reconstruction of all required state variables and non-measurable input disturbances, which also cover imperfections of a simplified plant modeling. A holistic performance evaluation on a laboratory heat transfer plant shows interesting results from the point of view of the optimal least sensitive solution with smooth input and output.

2021

Mixture-Based Open World Face Recognition

Authors
Matta, A; Pinto, JR; Cardoso, JS;

Publication
Trends and Applications in Information Systems and Technologies - Volume 3, WorldCIST 2021, Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal, 30 March - 2 April, 2021.

Abstract
Face Recognition (FR) is a challenging task, especially when dealing with unknown identities. While Open-Set Face Recognition (OSFR) assigns a single class to all unfamiliar subjects, Open-World Face Recognition (OWFR) employs an incremental approach, creating a new class for each unknown individual. Current OWFR approaches still present limitations, mainly regarding the accuracy gap to standard closed-set approaches and execution time. This paper proposes a fast and simple mixture-based OWFR algorithm that tackles the execution time issue while avoiding accuracy decay. The proposed method uses data curve representations and Universal Background Models based on Gaussian Mixture Models. Experimental results show that the proposed approach achieves competitive performance, considering accuracy and execution time, in both closed-set and open-world scenarios. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

2021

Scheduling Human-Robot Teams in collaborative working cells

Authors
Ferreira, C; Figueira, G; Amorim, P;

Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRODUCTION ECONOMICS

Abstract
Soon, a new generation of Collaborative Robots embodying Human-Robot Teams (HRTs) is expected to be more widely adopted in manufacturing. The adoption of this technology requires evaluating the overall performance achieved by an HRT for a given production workflow. We study this performance by solving the underlying scheduling problem under different production settings. We formulate the problem as a Multimode Multiprocessor Task Scheduling Problem, where tasks may be executed by two different types of resources (humans and robots), or by both simultaneously. Two algorithms are proposed to solve the problem - a Constraint Programming model and a Genetic Algorithm. We also devise a new lower bound for benchmarking the methods. Computational experiments are conducted on a large set of instances generated to represent a variety of HRT production settings. General instances for the problem are also considered. The proposed methods outperform algorithms found in the literature for similar problems. For the HRT instances, we find optimal solutions for a considerable number of instances, and tight gaps to lower bounds when optimal solutions are unknown. Moreover, we derive some insights on the improvement obtained if tasks can be executed simultaneously by the HRT. The experiments suggest that collaborative tasks reduce the total work time, especially in settings with numerous precedence constraints and low robot eligibility. These results indicate that the possibility of collaborative work can shorten cycle time, which may motivate future investment in this new technology.

2021

Framework for designing Business Continuity - Multidisciplinary Evaluation of Organizational Maturity

Authors
Russo, N; Reis, L; Silveira, C; Mamede, HS;

Publication
PROCEEDINGS OF 2021 16TH IBERIAN CONFERENCE ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES (CISTI'2021)

Abstract
In a competitive business environment, strongly supported on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), organizations increasingly need to be prepared to cope with disruptions in their activity and business processes. Business Continuity Management (BCM) encompasses effective planning for the relaunch of business processes in the short term, through the implementation of a Business Continuity Plan (BCP), which constitutes a decisive management factor for the continuity of value creation or guarantee of delivery of goods or services, to safeguard the business survival. This work addresses this issue, supported by a preliminary literature review oriented to identify and relate the common basis of components and activities of the BCM in the normative references, models and libraries of good practices, in order to explore the identification of its gaps in driving an achievable instrument to all organization sizes, considering each component of the BCM, allowing to assess the stage of preparedness, implementation and appraisal of the essential elements, with greater focus on ICT systems, that guide the BCM and the design of a BCP tailored to an organization.

2021

A timeline model for clinical events: empowering data

Authors
Bastardo, R; Castro, M; Pavão, J; Ramos, L;

Publication
CENTERIS 2021 - International Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems / ProjMAN 2021 - International Conference on Project MANagement / HCist 2021 - International Conference on Health and Social Care Information Systems and Technologies 2021, Braga, Portugal

Abstract
Data visualization is key in the Big Data context, enabling different cognitive perspectives over large datasets. These visual perspectives can prompt relevant advantages with regard to healthcare records, because they may contribute to a faster, more understandable, and adequate way to capture patients' health history and overall condition, thus improving healthcare quality. Timelines are well-known visual artifacts that help healthcare professionals to visualize patients' electronic health records (EHR) over a time period. As data stored in EHR tend to quickly grow with each interaction between patient and healthcare system both number and size, traditional linear timelines are can increasingly become more difficult to manage visually, as they often span over different screens. Considering that a holistic analysis is desirable to provide proper and quality health services, data visualization should enable a seamless understanding of patients' health history and overall condition. When dealing with critical episodes - such as an emergency - where time is an important factor, this is even more decisive. Furthermore, traditional timelines do not support multidimensional data representation. This paper presents a new visual model of time-dependent EHR based on radial models. It is capable of simultaneously displaying several data categories that characterize patients' medical history, enabling medical professionals to be aware of different data categories over time in a single display, without the need to scroll between screens.

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