Step towards multiplatform framework for supporting pediatric and neonatology care unit decision process

Children are an especially vulnerable population, particularly in respect to drug administration. It is estimated that neonatal and pediatric patients are at least three times more vulnerable to damage due to adverse events and medication errors than adults are. With the development of this framework, it is intended the provision of a Clinical Decision Support System based on a prototype already tested in a real environment. The framework will include features such as preparation of Total Parenteral Nutrition prescriptions, table pediatric and neonatal emergency drugs, medical scales of morbidity and mortality, anthropometry percentiles (weight, length/height, head circumference and BMI), utilities for supporting medical decision on the treatment of neonatal jaundice and anemia and support for technical procedures and other calculators and widespread use tools. The solution in development means an extension of INTCare project. The main goal is to provide an approach to get the functionality at all times of clinical practice and outside the hospital environment for dissemination, education and simulation of hypothetical situations. The aim is also to develop an area for the study and analysis of information and extraction of knowledge from the data collected by the use of the system. This paper presents the architecture, their requirements and functionalities and a SWOT analysis of the solution proposed.

Design and validation of a biomechanical bioreactor for cartilage tissue culture

Specific tissues, such as cartilage undergo mechanical solicitation under their normal performance in human body. In this sense, it seems necessary that proper tissue engineering strategies of these tissues should incorporate mechanical solicitations during cell culture, in order to properly evaluate the influence of the mechanical stimulus. This work reports on a user-friendly bioreactor suitable for applying controlled mechanical stimulation - amplitude and frequency - to three dimensional scaffolds. Its design and main components are described, as well as its operation characteristics. The modular design allows easy cleaning and operating under laminar hood. Different protocols for the sterilization of the hermetic enclosure are tested and ensure lack of observable contaminations, complying with the requirements to be used for cell culture. The cell viability study was performed with KUM5 cells.

A demonstration case on the derivation of process-level logical architectures for ambient assisted living ecosystems

When representing the requirements for an intended software solution during the development process, a logical architecture is a model that provides an organized vision of how functionalities behave regardless of the technologies to be implemented. If the logical architecture represents an ambient assisted living (AAL) ecosystem, such representation is a complex task due to the existence of interrelated multidomains, which, most of the time, results in incomplete and incoherent user requirements. In this chap- ter, we present the results obtained when applying process-level modeling techniques to the derivation of the logical architecture for a real industrial AAL project. We adopt a V-Model–based approach that expresses the AAL requirements in a process-level perspec- tive, instead of the traditional product-level view. Additionally, we ensure compliance of the derived logical architecture with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reference architecture as nonfunctional requirements to support the implementa- tion of the AAL architecture in cloud contexts.

Validation of a method to measure light distortion surrounding a source of glare

Our objective was to validate a new device dedicated to measure the light disturbances surrounding bright sources of light under different sources of potential variability. Twenty subjects were involved in the study. Light distortion was measured using an experimental prototype (light distortion analyzer, CEORLab, University of Minho, Portugal) comprising twenty-four LED arrays panel at 2 m. Sources of variability included: intrasession and intersession repeated measures, pupil size (3 versus 6 mm), defocus (þ0.50) correction for the working distance, angular resolution (15 deg versus 30 deg), temporal stimuli presentation, and pupil size. Size, shape, location, and irregularity parameters have been obtained. At a low speed of presentation of the stimuli, changes in angular resolution did not have an effect on the results of the parameters measured. Results did not change with pupil size. Intensity of the central glare source significantly influenced the outcomes. Examination time was reduced by 30% when a 30 deg angular resolution was explored instead of 15 deg. Measurements were fast and repeatable under the same experimental conditions. Size and shape parameters showed the highest consistency, whereas location and irregularity parameters showed lower consistency. The system was sensitive to changes in the intensity of the central glare source but not to pupil changes in this sample of healthy subjects.

Racionalização de processos administrativos: Sonae SR

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão Industrial

Numerical simulation of the reflow soldering process

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Mechanical Engineering

Corporate Performance Management através da integração de Business Intelligence e Business Process Management

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão de Sistemas de Informação

Assistive locomotion strategies for active lower limb devices

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Biomédica (área de especialização em Eletrónica Médica)

Implementation and validation of a strain rate dependent anisotropic continuum model for masonry

A newly developed strain rate dependent anisotropic continuum model is proposed for impact and blast applications in masonry. The present model adopted the usual approach of considering different yield criteria in tension and compression. The analysis of unreinforced block work masonry walls subjected to impact is carried out to validate the capability of the model. Comparison of the numerical predictions and test data revealed good agreement. Next, a parametric study is conducted to evaluate the influence of the tensile strengths along the three orthogonal directions and of the wall thickness on the global behavior of masonry walls.

Comparação dosimétrica de dois sistemas de planeamento de tratamento em radioterapia conformacional 3D

Dissertação de mestrado em Biofísica e Bionanossistemas

Engenharia de embalagens: propostas de acondicionamento na indústria de autorrádios

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia Mecânica

Contributos dos doutores palhaços da Operação Nariz Vermelho para a qualidade da adaptação e do desenvolvimento em contexto pediátrico: o olhar da criança e seus pais

Tese de doutoramento em Ciências da Educação (Área Especialidade em Psicologia da Educação)

Optimization of filling systems for low pressure by Flow 3D

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Mecânica

Embedding, evolution, and validation of model-driven spreadsheets

This paper proposes and validates a model-driven software engineering technique for spreadsheets. The technique that we envision builds on the embedding of spreadsheet models under a widely used spreadsheet system. This means that we enable the creation and evolution of spreadsheet models under a spreadsheet system. More precisely, we embed ClassSheets, a visual language with a syntax similar to the one offered by common spreadsheets, that was created with the aim of specifying spreadsheets. Our embedding allows models and their conforming instances to be developed under the same environment. In practice, this convenient environment enhances evolution steps at the model level while the corresponding instance is automatically co-evolved.Finally,wehave designed and conducted an empirical study with human users in order to assess our technique in production environments. The results of this study are promising and suggest that productivity gains are realizable under our model-driven spreadsheet development setting.

Supercritical fluid and pharmaceutical applications. Part I: Process classification

The supercritical fluid technology has been target of many pharmaceuticals investigations in particles production for almost 35 years. This is due to the great advantages it offers over others technologies currently used for the same purpose. A brief history is presented, as well the classification of supercritical technology based on the role that the supercritical fluid (carbon dioxide) performs in the process.