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Publications

2021

The Code.org Platform in the Developing of Computational Thinking with Elementary School Students

Authors
Barradas, R; Lencastre, JA; Soares, S; Valente, A;

Publication
COMPUTER SUPPORTED EDUCATION (CSEDU 2020)

Abstract
Computational thinking is the thinking process involved in formulating problems to admit a computational solution. This article describes a study in which the code.org platform was used to develop computational thinking with Elementary school students. After proper introduction and contextualization, we describe the 198 students from 4th grade involved in the study, following the process of collecting and analyzing data from the code.org platform. We conclude with the evaluation carried out by the students. The main conclusion of this study is that code.org is a valid option for developing computational thinking with Elementary school students. Also, a reliable way for students to start solving real-life problems, stimulating the capacity for abstraction through simulated and experienced practice.

2021

CAT: content-aware tracing and analysis for distributed systems

Authors
Esteves, T; Neves, F; Oliveira, R; Paulo, J;

Publication
Middleware

Abstract

2021

Perspectives on financial literacy in undergraduate students

Authors
Almeida, F; Costa, O;

Publication
JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS

Abstract
The increasing complexity of financial products and services requires a domain of information and knowledge in the financial area. This study explores the role of financial literacy in undergraduate students at a higher education institution in Portugal. A sample of 196 undergraduate students enrolled in six courses in the fields of engineering and social sciences was considered. The results reveal that the level of knowledge about financial literacy is quite heterogeneous. Formal and informal channels tend to coexist when they perform a financial decision. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the awareness of cryptocurrencies is high, while the adherence to digital platforms for the acquisition of these currencies remains low.

2021

Multi-domain inspection of offshore wind farms using an autonomous surface vehicle

Authors
Campos, DF; Matos, A; Pinto, AM;

Publication
SN APPLIED SCIENCES

Abstract
The offshore wind power industry is an emerging and exponentially growing sector, which calls to a necessity for a cyclical monitoring and inspection to ensure the safety and efficiency of the wind farm facilities. Thus, the emersed (aerial) and immersed (underwater) scenarios must be reconstructed to create a more complete and reliable map that maximizes the observability of all the offshore structures from the wind turbines to the cable arrays, presenting a multi domain scenario.This work proposes the use of an Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) to map both domains simultaneously. As such, it will produce a multi-domain map through the fusion of navigational sensors, GPS and IMU, to localize the vehicle and aid the registration process for the perception sensors, 3D Lidar and Multibeam echosounder sonar. The performed experiments demonstrate the ability of the multi-domain mapping architecture to provide an accurate reconstruction of both scenarios into a single representation using the odometry system as the initial seed to further improve the map with data filtering and registration processes. An error of 0.049 m for the odometry estimation is observed with the GPS/IMU fusion for simulated data and 0.07 m for real field tests. The multi-domain map methodology requires an average of 300 ms per iteration to reconstruct the environment, with an error of at most 0.042 m in simulation.

2021

Refinement of Animal Model of Colorectal Carcinogenesis through the Definition of Novel Humane Endpoints

Authors
Silva Reis, R; Faustino Rocha, AI; Goncalves, M; Ribeiro, CC; Ferreira, T; Ribeiro Silva, C; Goncalves, L; Antunes, L; Venancio, C; Ferreira, R; Gama, A; Oliveira, PA;

Publication
ANIMALS

Abstract
Simple Summary Ensuring animal welfare is essential in protocols using laboratory animals. Applying a score sheet with 14 biological parameters, we assessed the welfare of 29 male Wistar rats used as models of colorectal carcinogenesis (CRC). We found a uniformity of characteristics preceding the premature animals' death, including an increase of 10% in body weight, swollen abdomen, diarrhea, and priapism. In addition, we observed that surface abdominal temperature was higher in animals with CRC. We considered that the parameters already described in other cancer models are insufficient and considered assessing the abdominal temperature, priapism, and sudden increase in the body weight in the model of CRC. This study aimed to define appropriate humane endpoints (HEs) for an animal model of colorectal carcinogenesis (CRC). Twenty-nine male Wistar rats were divided into two control groups (CTRL1 and CTRL2) injected with ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA)-saline solutions and two induced groups (CRC1 and CRC2) injected with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) for seven weeks. A score sheet with 14 biological parameters was used to assess animal welfare. Groups CRC1 and CTRL1 and groups CRC2 and CTRL2 were euthanized 11 and 17 weeks after the first DMH administration, respectively. Five animals from the induced groups died unexpectedly during the protocol (survival rates of 75.0% and 66.7% for groups CRC1 and CRC2, respectively). The final mean body weight (BW) was smaller in the CRC groups when compared with that in the CTRL groups. A uniformity of characteristics preceding the premature animals' death was observed, namely an increase of 10% in mean BW, swollen abdomen, diarrhea, and priapism. The surface abdominal temperature of group CRC2 was significantly higher, when compared with that of group CTRL2. The parameters already described in other cancer models proved to be insufficient. For the CRC model, we considered assessing the abdominal temperature, priapism, and sudden increase in the BW.

2021

Multi-language static code analysis on the LARA framework

Authors
Teixeira, G; Bispo, J; Correia, FF;

Publication
SOAP@PLDI

Abstract
We propose a mechanism to raise the abstraction level of source-code analysis and robustly support multiple languages. Built on top of the LARA framework, it allows sharing language specifications between LARA source-to-source compilers, and enables the mapping of a virtual AST over the nodes of ASTs provided by different, unrelated parsers. We use this approach to create a language specification for Object-Oriented (OO) languages and add support for three different LARA compilers. We evaluate it by implementing a library of 18 software metrics using this language specification and apply the metrics to source code in four programming languages (C, C++, Java, and JavaScript). We compare the results with other tools to evaluate the approach.

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