Abstract
This study tackles the initiation of industry convergence to develop a patent-level framework aiming to anticipate convergence. Despite the vast amount of studies in the convergence literature, much remains to be understood about the dynamics of convergence, from the outset at the technology level to further development at the industry level. The evaluation of technical domain combinations facilitates the identification of industry convergence at early stages. This study analyzes patent data to measure the continuity in the combination of technical knowledge domains, which drives convergence. We also identified the patent indicators which promote the formation of the influential combinations that drive industry convergence. The present findings revealed that only a few unprecedented combinations in technical domains developed in future technologies, which implies the significance of distinguishing the combinations that may be expanding rapidly in subsequent years. The results also reported that the influential combinations need to be identifiable for future inventors, useful and practical for future technologies, and compatible with a variety of technical domains. This research provides insights for studies in innovation and technology management as well as implications for inventors, managers, and policymakers toward technology road-mapping.

Abstract
This work reports on preliminary findings about the learning process of a diverse set of users playing an immersive Virtual Reality serious game based on hand tracking to complement conventional occupational therapy in hand rehabilitation. Two test sessions with a one-day break between them were carried out with seven able-bodied participants. Participants went through twenty minutes guided functional task practice followed by a Semi-structured interview. The System Usability Scale (SUS) scores obtained for the first (75.36) and second (76.43) test sessions positioned the serious game above the average in terms of usability. Insights about the learning process., SUS and the obtained trial results., confirm the potential of the developed solution as a viable complement to conventional hand rehabilitation and highlight possible points for improvement. © 2021 IEEE.

Abstract

Abstract
In their quest for sustainability, cities design and deploy smart mobility solutions aiming to improve the efficiency and management of transportation systems and to provide better services to citizens. Those solutions are often based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and on digital services, but their maintenance and management are a greater challenge than their implementation. Problems can be difficult to identify since they can be exogenous or endogenous to the service provider. Usually, in their effort to maintain good service levels, companies implement complex and expensive information systems that use sensors to monitor infrastructure and hardware but ignore other sources of valuable information. In a digitalized world, customers easily report problems that are a cause of lower quality of service and worse user experience. However, for several reasons, service providers do not always pay due attention to these complaints. As communication channels are already open, we claim that customer participation through these reports can be used to significantly enhance the delivery and quality of mobility services. In this work we propose a methodology that takes advantage of customers’ participation in the maintenance and management of smart city solutions. With this methodology, we aim to redesign the process of customer interaction with service providers in order to improve the overall efficiency and the service experience. Our research is based on a case study from a public transport service in the metropolitan area of Porto, in Portugal. © 2021, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Abstract
Purpose To quantify and understand how to assess the quality of life and health-related QoL of parents with children with congenital abnormalities. Methods We conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis. The search was carried out in 5 bibliographic databases and in ClinicalTrials.gov. No restriction on language or date of publication was applied. This was complemented by references of the studies found and studies of evidence synthesis, manual search of abstracts of relevant congresses/scientific meetings and contact with experts. We included primary studies (observational, quasi-experimental and experimental studies) on parents of children with CA reporting the outcome quality of life (primary outcome) of parents, independently of the intervention/exposure studied. Results We included 75 studies (35 observational non-comparatives, 31 observational comparatives, 4 quasi-experimental and 5 experimental studies). We identified 27 different QoL instruments. The two most frequently used individual QoL instruments were WHOQOL-Bref and SF-36. Relatively to family QoL tools identified, we emphasized PedsQL FIM, IOFS and FQOL. Non-syndromic congenital heart defects were the CA most frequently studied. Through the analysis of comparative studies, we verified that parental and familial QoL were impaired in this population. Conclusions This review highlights the relevance of assessing QoL in parents with children with CA and explores the diverse QoL assessment tools described in the literature. Additionally, results indicate a knowledge gap that can help to draw new paths to future research. It is essential to assess QoL as a routine in healthcare providing and to implement strategies that improve it.

Abstract
Internet of Things, IoT, is a promising methodology that has been increasing over the last years. It can be used to allow the connection and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet. One of the IoT connection protocols is the LoRaWAN, which has several advantages but has a low bandwidth and limited data transfer. There is a necessity of optimising the data transfer between devices. Some sensors have a 10 or 12 bits resolution, while LoRaWAN owns 8 bits or multiples slots of transmission remaining unused bits. This paper addresses a communication optimisation for wireless sensors resorting to encoding and decoding procedures. This approach is applied and validated on the real scenario of a wildfire detection system.