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Publications

2017

Exploring Online Travel Reviews Using Data Analytics: An Exploratory Study

Authors
Migueis, VL; Novoa, H;

Publication
SERVICE SCIENCE

Abstract
The information provided by online traveler reviews is becoming a key element in the decision-making process of hotel customers, reducing the uncertainty and the perceived risk of a traveler. Therefore, a careful analysis of the content provided by online customers' reviews might give invaluable information concerning the key determinants, from a user's perspective, of the quality of the service provided, justifying the attributed service rating. The objectives of this study are twofold: (1) use text-mining techniques to analyze the user's generated content automatically collected from hotels in Porto in a certain period of time and, from this analysis, derive the most frequent terms used to describe the service; (2) understand whether it is possible to predict the aggregated rating assigned by reviewers based on the terms used and, at the same time, identify the terms showing high predictive capacity. Our study attempts to support hotel service managers in achieving their strategic and tactical goals by using innovative text- and data-mining tools to explore the wealth of information provided by user generated content in an easy and timely way.

2017

Aggregation of Distributed Energy Resources Under the Concept of Multienergy Players in Local Energy Systems

Authors
Yazdani Damavandi, M; Neyestani, N; Chicco, G; Shafie Khah, M; Catalao, JPS;

Publication
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

Abstract
In recent years, in addition to the traditional aspects concerning efficiency and profitability, the energy sector is facing new challenges given by environmental issues, security of supply, and the increasing role of the local demand. Therefore, the researchers have developed new decision-making frameworks enabling higher local integration of distributed energy resources (DER). In this context, new energy players appeared in the retail markets, increasing the level of competition on the demand side. In this paper, a multienergy player (MEP) is defined, which behaves as a DER aggregator between the wholesale energy market and a number of local energy systems (LES). The MEP and the LES have to find a long-term equilibrium in the multienergy retail market, in which they are interrelated through the price signals. To achieve this goal, in this paper the decision-making conflict between the market players is represented through a bilevel model, in which the decision variables of the MEP at the upper level are parameters for the decision-making problem at the lower level (for the individual LES). The problem is transformed into a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints by implementing duality theory, which is solved with the CPLEX 12 solver. The numerical results show the different MEP behavior in various conditions that impact on the total flexibility of the energy system.

2017

A Conversational Medication Assistant for Heart Failure

Authors
Lobo, J; Ferreira, L; Ferreira, AJS;

Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF E-HEALTH AND MEDICAL COMMUNICATIONS

Abstract
The incidence of chronic diseases is increasing and monitoring patients in a home environment is recommended. Noncompliance with prescribed medication regimens is a concern, especially among older people. Heart failure is a chronic disease that requires patients to follow strict medication plans permanently. With the objective of helping these patients managing information about their medicines and increasing adherence, the personal medication advisor CARMIE was developed as a conversational agent capable of interacting, in Portuguese, with users through spoken natural language. The system architecture is based on a language parser, a dialog manager, and a language generator, integrated with already existing tools for speech recognition and synthesis. All modules work together and interact with the user through an Android application, supporting users to manage information about their prescribed medicines. The authors also present a preliminary usability study and further considerations on CARMIE.

2017

Managing Diabetes: Counselling Supported by User Data in a Mobile Platform

Authors
Machado, D; Dutra, I; Brandão, P; Costa, VS;

Publication
RuleML+RR (Supplement)

Abstract
Diabetes management is a complex problem. The patient needs to monitor several parameters in order to react in the most appropriate way. Different situations require the diabetic to understand and evaluate different rules. The main source of knowledge for those rules arises from medical practice and is usually transmitted through medical appointments. Given this initial advice, most patient are on a continuous process of managing the disease, toward achieving the best possible quality of life. Motivated by recent aadvances in diabetes monitoring devices, we introduce a diabetes support system designed to accompany the user, advising her and providing early guidance to avoid some of the many complications associated with diabetes. To accomplish this goal, we incorporate standard medical protocols, advice and directives in a Rule Based System (RBS). This RBS which we call Advice Rule Based System (ARBS) is capable of advising and uncovering possible causes for different occurrences. We believe that this solution is not only beneficial to the patient, but may also may be of use to the clinitians advising the patient. The device has continuous contact with the patient, thus it can provide early response if/where needed, Moreover, the system can provide useful data, that an authorized medical expert can use while prescribing a particular treatment, or even when investingating this health problem. We have started to add data-mining algorithms and methods, to uncover hidden behavioural patterns that may lead to crisis situations. Ultimately, through refining the rule systems base don human and machine learning, our approach has the potential for personalising the system according to the habits and phenotype of its user. The system is to be incorporated in a currently developed diabetes management application for Android.

2017

Welcome to the First Issue of PACMHCI EICS

Authors
Calvary, G; Nichols, J; Campos, JC; Nunes, NJ; Campos, PF;

Publication
Proc. ACM Hum. Comput. Interact.

Abstract
The Proceedings of the ACM (PACM) was initiated by ACM in 2015 as overarching framework for publishing high quality computer science research. The goal for these new journals is to provide an alternate journal publication model for rigorous research papers that have traditionally been presented at major ACM conferences. PACM titles cross multiple intellectual communities, and each separate PACM is designed to represent a broad, but consistent, reach area. This is the first issue of the Proceedings of the ACM on Human Computer Interaction (PACMHCI), which represents the varied topics and communities that compose the broader study of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). The rich heterogeneity of this field can be expressed as deep ethnographies of information use in context, to experiments showing the effectiveness of interface designs, to the production of new technologies that push the limits of how we interact with computers, and much more. The production of PACMHCI will focus on content associated with major research communities that are supported by the ACM Special Interest Group on Human-Computer Interaction (SIGCHI). Individual issues will be largely associated with separate research communities, who may then also select papers from the issue for presentation at their major conferences. These research communities provide the volunteers and editors necessary to provide the rigorous review and editorial process that will define this journal. Those editors will serve on the overall board for ACMHCI, to help bridge our diverse communities. Leveraging our research communities allows us to provide high-quality reviewing while maintaining the quick processing of work that is important in this quickly moving field. This inaugural issue of PACMHCI represents work from the Engineering Interactive Computing Systems (EICS) community. EICS gathers researchers that aim to improve the ways we build interactive systems. Building interactive systems is a multi-faceted and challenging activity, involving a plethora of different actors and roles. This is particularly true in the domain of HCI, where we continuously push the edge of what is possible, where there is a crucial need for adequate processes, tools and methods to build reliable, useful and usable systems that help people cope with the ever-increasing complexity of work and life. The primary goal of the EICS research community is to create novel and high quality contributions in this direction. Although there are only three articles in this first issue, our pipeline for future issues is promising. In the first submission cycle, 41 papers were submitted and, of those, 22 were asked for major revisions. We expect a good number of those 22 papers to be ultimately accepted over the coming months. We are grateful to our newly-formed Editorial Board consisting of more than 70 experts for lending their support and knowledge to the new journal. More information about PACMHCI can be found at http://pacmhci.acm.org/.

2017

Towards an Automated Test Bench Environment for Prolog Systems

Authors
Gonçalves, R; Areias, M; Rocha, R;

Publication
SLATE

Abstract
Software testing and benchmarking is a key component of the software development process. Nowadays, a good practice in big software projects is the Continuous Integration (CI) software development technique. The key idea of CI is to let developers integrate their work as they produce it, instead of doing the integration at the end of each software module. In this paper, we extend a previous work on a benchmark suite for the Yap Prolog system and we propose a fully automated test bench environment for Prolog systems, named Yet Another Prolog Test Bench Environment (YAPTBE), aimed to assist developers in the development and CI of Prolog systems. YAPTBE is based on a cloud computing architecture and relies on the Jenkins framework and in a set of new Jenkins plugins to manage the underneath infrastructure. We present the key design and implementation aspects of YAPTBE and show its most important features, such as its graphical user interface and the automated process that builds and runs Prolog systems and benchmarks.

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