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Publications

2017

Supporting Accessibility in Higher Education Information Systems: A 2016 Update

Authors
Reis, A; Martins, P; Borges, J; Sousa, A; Rocha, T; Barroso, J;

Publication
UNIVERSAL ACCESS IN HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION: DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES AND METHODS, PT I

Abstract
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have come a long way on the usage of Information Systems (IS) at the several phases of the execution of their business plan. These organizations are very peculiar in the sense that most of the IS technologies have been developed as a consequence of the research work of the HEIs, positioning them as creators and as consumers of IS technologies. In fact, a considerable part of the IS products, currently available for the education sector, was initially created in a HEI as an in-house development. For these reason, the adoption of IS technologies by HEIs has followed two distinct paths: the in-house creation, previously described; and a current market adoption, similarly to most other companies IS adoption. Up to 2013 the IS applications for HEIs was mostly provided as web applications running on the HEI local datacenters and devoted to some specific phases of the HEI business plan. Currently, in 2016, this scenario has evolved in two ways: (i) to a wider range of type of applications, including: the old type of web application; new mobile applications; and new web application, running on the cloud and used as a service, (ii) to a more extended support coverage regarding the HEI business model phases, i.e., there are more IS applications supporting more aspects of the HEIs’ activities. In 2013, it was published a study regarding the accessibility support in HEI IS applications and related user practices. Due to the advances in IS technologies and their adoption by HEIs, it is now time to update this perspective on accessibility and HEIs IS, in order to assess how the progresses on IS applications used in HEIs have dealt with the accessibility concerns. The study updates the IS accessibility features as well as the new systems and new types of systems currently in use.

2017

An integrated approach on energy consumption and indoor environmental quality performance in six Portuguese secondary schools

Authors
Dias Pereira L.; Neto L.; Bernardo H.; Gameiro da Silva M.;

Publication
Energy Research and Social Science

Abstract
A major rehabilitation programme of secondary school buildings has been carried out in the last few years in Portugal. With the introduction of HVAC systems in buildings that were previously naturally ventilated, an increase on energy consumption has been verified. During the first occupancy periods of new and refurbished buildings, energy and indoor climate quality audits are important strategies to improve the buildings’ energy use. In this context, this paper aims at showing the relations between the energy consumption and indoor environment quality (IEQ) parameters, obtained from the energy and IEQ audit in six representative modernised secondary schools – part of a larger R&D project untitled 3Es – geographically and climatically distributed in Portugal mainland. The monitoring period during the mid-season 2013 varied between schools, between two and three weeks. Air exchange rates, more specifically infiltration rates, were quantified aiming at determining the current airtightness condition of the refurbished schools. A subjective IEQ assessment was also performed, focusing on occupants' feedback, providing insight on the potential linkages between energy use and occupants’ comfort. A reflection on the energy consumption indicators and the indoor conditions obtained in the classrooms was proposed, and some suggestions were anticipated.

2017

Effect of Metalearning on Feature Selection Employment

Authors
das Dôres, SN; Soares, C; Ruiz, DDA;

Publication
AutoML@PKDD/ECML

Abstract
Feature Selection is important to improve learning performance, reduce computational complexity and decrease required storage. There are multiple methods for feature selection, with varying impact and computational cost. Therefore, choosing the right method for a given data set is important. In this paper, we analyze the advantages of metalearning for feature selection employment. This issue is relevant because a wrong decision may imply additional processing, when FS is unnecessarily applied, or in a loss of performance, when not used in a problem for which it is appropriate. Our results showed that, although there is an advantage in using metalearning, these gains are not yet sufficiently relevant, which opens the way for new research to be carried out in the area.

2017

Successful Large-scale Renewables Integration in Portugal: Technology and Intelligent Tools

Authors
Miranda, V; University of Porto,;

Publication
CSEE JOURNAL OF POWER AND ENERGY SYSTEMS

Abstract
Portugal is seen worldwide as a case of success in the large-scale integration of renewables in its power system, especially for wind power. Consistent policies and sound management decisions are fundamental, but a sustainable process is not possible without the development of endogenous knowledge. This paper summarizes a set of models, both applied by the industry and representing actual technologic advancement, denoting the context of research and innovation in the country that helps to explain such success. Novelties arise in reliability assessment for systems with renewables, active and reactive power control, integration of wind farms, storage, electric vehicle integration, wind and solar power forecasting and distribution operation and state estimation taking advantage of smart grid structures. In all cases, one relevant trait is evident: the pervasive use of computational intelligence tools.

2017

MyAutoIconPlat: An Automatic Platform for Icons Creation

Authors
Rocha, T; Pinheiro, P; Santos, J; Marques, A; Paredes, H; Barroso, J;

Publication
UNIVERSAL ACCESS IN HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION: DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES AND METHODS, PT I

Abstract
This paper presents an accessible platform for the automatic creation of icons through a simple (web) form. The platform allows the creation of personalized icons that can be used as a navigation or search option in web context replacing the usual text keyword metaphor. With the development of this platform we aimed to provide a simpler automatic method of icon creation, allowing users to personalize their icons and share them with others. The icons created are stored in a database that can be used in different Web or digital contexts. As a proof of concept, the platform was integrated with an existing Web application for video searching in the YouTube platform through icons hyperlinks: SAMi [1]. The resulting integrated platform was assessed for usability (user tests) and accessibility (with an automatic assess tool). The results showed the interface is accessible to a group of people with intellectual disabilities, increasing their performance, satisfaction, motivation and autonomy.

2017

Promoting Semantic Annotation of Research Data by Their Creators: A Use Case with B2NOTE at the End of the RDM Workflow

Authors
Karimova, Y; Castro, JA; da Silva, JR; Pereira, N; Ribeiro, C;

Publication
MTSR

Abstract
Research data management is promoted at different levels with awareness actions carried out to encourage cooperation between researchers. However, data management requires tools to set the scene for researchers and institutions to disseminate the research data they produce. In this context good quality metadata play an important role by enabling data reuse. EUDAT is an European common data infrastructure, with integrated services for data preservation and dissemination. The TAIL project, at the University of Porto, proposes workflows based on Dendro, a collaborative environment that helps researchers prepare well described datasets and deposit them in a data repository. We propose a data deposit workflow use case for a small research project with emphasis in data annotation. Data is organized and described in Dendro; deposited in B2SHARE; and semantic annotation is performed with the new B2NOTE service from EUDAT.

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