Context-aware framework for collaborative applications

Future pervasive environments will take into consideration not only individual user’s interest, but also social relationships. In this way, pervasive communities can lead the user to participate beyond traditional pervasive spaces, enabling the cooperation among groups and taking into account not only individual interests, but also the collective and social context. Social applications in CSCW (Computer Supported Cooperative Work) field represent new challenges and possibilities in terms of use of social context information for adaptability in pervasive environments. In particular, the research describes the approach in the design and development of a context.aware framework for collaborative applications (CAFCA), utilizing user’s context social information for proactive adaptations in pervasive environments. In order to validate the proposed framework an evaluation was conducted with a group of users based on enterprise scenario. The analysis enabled to verify the impact of the framework in terms of functionality and efficiency in real-world conditions. The main contribution of this thesis was to provide a context-aware framework to support collaborative applications in pervasive environments. The research focused on providing an innovative socio-technical approach to exploit collaboration in pervasive communities. Finally, the main results reside in social matching capabilities for session formation, communication and coordinations of groupware for collaborative activities.

Curricular training report: clinical studies coordination in a clinical research organization vs an investigational site perspective

This report describes my experience of nine months as a trainee of a CRO (Eurotrials, Scientific Consultants), as well as a trainee of a clinical research site (Clinical Academic Center – Braga, Association). This document describes the European framework about clinical research and the Portuguese situation compared to similar countries. The activities developed during this internship are also described. These activities are divided in two phases. The first one occurred in Eurotrials, Scientific Consultants, a CRO specialized in clinical research and scientific advice. The first weeks were dedicated to intensive self-training needed to perform CTA tasks. These tasks included qualification, initiation and monitoring activities related to clinical trials, as well as the development of a quality management system. The second phase took place on 2CA-Braga, a clinical research center located in Hospital of Braga. Clinical studies coordination was the main focus of this second phase of my internship, as well as negotiation of clinical studies agreements. I had also the opportunity to participate in “1as Jornadas de Investigação Clínica e Inovação” (1st Clinical Investigation and Innovation Conference) organized by 2CA-Braga. Globally, this internship was a great opportunity to get knowledge and experience in the implementation and management of clinical trials, in a CRO and clinical research site perspectives. These two perspectives provided an interesting overview about the scientific needs of different players involved in clinical research. To conclude, this internship strengthened the knowledge acquired from my academic background, which make me able to face and overcome new challenges in the clinical research area.