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Publications

2022

Social Media in China and Portugal and digital Bubbles of Political Information

Authors
Pinheiro, B; Moutela, C; Silva, J; Ferreira, ML; Au-Yong-Oliveira, M;

Publication
INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES, WORLDCIST 2022, VOL 3

Abstract
Social media is one of the greatest achievements of technological evolution. Nowadays, we have the world in our hands, just a click away. But if, on one hand, the community saw social media as a progressive tool, strict governments saw them as a threat to their regime. China was one of the countries that imposed a highly repressive strategy which blocked foreign content, therefore, websites like Google, YouTube and Facebook are blocked, and Chinese netizens can only access government approved websites. Surrounded by this Firewall, the Chinese are kept complacent towards the government's decisions and are held back from speaking against it. From this situation, we began wondering the extent of our opinion permeability towards social networks in the West. We set a parallelism between two different situations but, in a way, complementary. Is our political opinion shaped by the content we see on social networks? Is there a strategy being applied to purposefully guide our opinion? This was the focal point of our survey which was applied to a Portuguese sample. A survey was created on Google Forms where both individuals' perspectives were assessed. The research sample was a convenience sample, which included 160 answers. Most participants (66%) said they considered that social networks serve as a mechanism for disseminating political ideologies. Moreover, 49.38% believe that social networks can have an impact on real-life decisions regarding the political sphere. Through a careful analysis of the data, we concluded that people seem to be aware of the magnitude that social media has had in politics lately, and they are, in general, responsible commentators who, most often, look for a second source of information. Notably, we have become somewhat intolerable to the opinions of others because we have closed ourselves in our own communities, in the content that our algorithm chooses for us and in a way, we are, as the Chinese, restricted to a digital bubble of information alongside with others who share the same political beliefs.

2022

Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on Middleware for the Edge, MIDDLEWEDGE 2022, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, 7 November 2022

Authors
Martins, R; Veiga, L; Lebre, A;

Publication
MIDDLEWEDGE@Middleware

Abstract

2022

A Novel Approach for Send Time Prediction on Email Marketing

Authors
Araujo, C; Soares, C; Pereira, I; Coelho, D; Rebelo, MA; Madureira, A;

Publication
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL

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-2 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

Learning Engineering Ethics

Authors
Nylund, R; Malheiro, B;

Publication
Handbook of Research on Improving Engineering Education with the European Project Semester - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development

Abstract
Ethics promotes collective respect, well-being, and development. Its values drive individual, social, and environmental conduct and apply to all human activities. Professional ethics or deontology refers to the moral obligations binding professionals to society in the work sphere. These moral obligations are fundamental in professions that, like engineering, are behind technological innovation, given its current daily and worldwide impact. As such, it is essential to train engineers for holistic problem-solving, that is, driven by ethical, sustainability, technical, and economic constraints. This chapter analyses engineering ethics and how it is addressed within the European Project Semester, an undergraduate one-semester international exchange program, focusing on this aspect of engineering education. European Project Semester relies on multicultural teamwork, project-based learning, ethics, and sustainability-oriented design to motivate and prepare global engineers committed to protecting and improving life on the planet.

2022

A Multiobjective Approach for the Optimal Placement of Protection and Control Devices in Distribution Networks With Microgrids

Authors
Reiz, C; de Lima, TD; Leite, JB; Javadi, MS; Gouveia, CS;

Publication
IEEE ACCESS

Abstract
Protection and control systems represent an essential part of distribution networks by ensuring the physical integrity of components and by improving system reliability. Protection devices isolate a portion of the network affected by a fault, while control devices reduce the number of de-energized loads by transferring loads to neighboring feeders. The integration of distributed generation has the potential to enhance the continuity of energy services through islanding operation during outage conditions. In this context, this study presents a multi-objective optimization approach for sizing and allocating protection and control devices in distribution networks with microgrids supplied by renewable energy sources. Reclosers, fuses, remote-controlled switches, and directional relays are considered in the formulation. Demand and generation uncertainties define the islanding operation and the load transfer possibilities. A non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm is applied in the solution of the allocation problem considering two conflicting objectives: cost of energy not supplied and equipment cost. The compromise programming is then performed to achieve the best solution from the Pareto front. The results show interesting setups for the protection system and viability of islanding operation.

2022

Moodbuster (E-MODEL): The feasibility of digital cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for depressed older adults: Study protocol of two pilot feasibility studies (Preprint)

Authors
Amarti, K; Schulte, MHJ; Kleiboer, AM; van Genugten, CR; Oudega, M; Sonnenberg, C; Gonçalves, GC; Rocha, A; Riper, H;

Publication

Abstract
BACKGROUND

Internet-based interventions can be effective in the treatment of depression. However, internet-based interventions for older adults with depression are scarce and little is known about their feasibility and effectiveness.

OBJECTIVE

To present the design of two studies aiming to assess the feasibility of internet-based cognitive behavioural treatment (CBT) for older adults with depression (E-MODEL). We will assess the feasibility of an online, guided version of E-MODEL among depressed older adults from the general population as well as the feasibility of a blended format (combining integrated face-to-face sessions and internet-based modules) in specialised mental health care outpatient clinic.

METHODS

A single-group pretest-posttest design will be applied for both settings. The primary outcome of the studies will be feasibility in terms of (a) acceptance and satisfaction (measured with the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8, (b) usability (measured with the System Usability Scale) and (c) engagement (measured with the Twente Engagement with Ehealth Technologies Scale). Secondary outcomes include: (a) severity of depressive symptoms (PHQ-8), (b) participant and therapist experience with the digital technology (with the use of qualitative interviews), (c) working alliance between patient and practitioner (from both perspectives; WAI-SF), (d) technical alliance between patient and the platform (WAI-TECH-SF) and (e) uptake in terms of attemped and completed modules. N=30 older adults with mild to moderate depressive symptoms (score between 5 and 11 as measured with the Geriatric Depression Scale 15) will be recruited from the general population. N=15 older adults with moderate to severe depressive symptoms (GDS-15 score between 8 and 15) will be recruited from a specialised mental health care outpatient clinic.

RESULTS

A mixed-method approach of quantitative and qualitative analyses will be adopted. Both the primary and secondary outcomes will be additionally explored with an individual semistructured interview and synthesized descriptively. Descriptive statistics (Mean and SDs) will be used to examine the primary and secondary outcome measures. Within-group depression severity will be analyzed using a two-tailed paired sample t-test to investigate differences between time points. The interviews will be recorded and analyzed using thematic analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this pilot study will show whether this platform is feasible among the older adult population in a blended and guided format in the two settings as well as a first exploration of the size of the effect of E-MODEL in terms of decrease of depressive symptoms.

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