Chemical approaches to ubiquitous computing

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Química, perfil de Química Física, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Mainroad: Cloud computing

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Brain-computer interface (BCI): a methodological proposal to assess the impacts of medical applications in 2022

Based on the report for “Project IV” unit of the PhD programme on Technology Assessment (Doctoral Conference) at Universidade Nova de Lisboa (December 2011). This thesis research has the supervision of António Moniz (FCT-UNL and ITAS-KIT) and Armin Grunwald (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology-ITAS, Germany). Other members of the thesis committee are Mário Forjaz Secca (FCT-UNL) and Femke Nijboer (University of Twente, Netherlands).

Estimating data divergence in cloud computing storage systems

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

Personalization platform for multimodal ubiquitous computing applications

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

Modeling and visualization of medical anesthesiology acts

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

Improvisation in tightly controlled work environments: The case of medical practice

We present a qualitative analysis of organizational improvisation and provide a preliminary insight into the following question: how is improvisation present in tightly controlled work environments? We conducted in situ observations of, and interviews with, several emergency medical teams and complemented this information with statistical and media data. Using grounded theory, we developed four propositions that were arranged into a model that allowed the identification of two use levels of established routines: (1) the visible side that accommodates contextual requirements, and (2) the improvisational side that provides a response to activity characteristics. This dual process is related to the existence of pressures that operate at the institutional level with practical needs emerging from the operational domain. In contrast with most of the literature, this study reveals that the presence of a broad procedural organizational memory does not restrict improvisation but enables a bureaucratic system to produce flexible improvised performance.

Money for nothing?: The net costs of medical training

A Masters Thesis, presented as part of the requirements for the award of a Research Masters Degree in Economics from NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Narrative Bifurcation, Cloud Computing Interfaces and Hitchcok

From a narratological perspective, this paper aims to address the theoretical issues concerning the functioning of the so called «narrative bifurcation» in data presentation and information retrieval. Its use in cyberspace calls for a reassessment as a storytelling device. Films have shown its fundamental role for the creation of suspense. Interactive fiction and games have unveiled the possibility of plots with multiple choices, giving continuity to cinema split-screen experiences. Using practical examples, this paper will show how this storytelling tool returns to its primitive form and ends up by conditioning cloud computing interface design.

Heterogeneous computing with an algorithmic skeleton framework

The Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is present in almost every modern day personal computer. Despite its specific purpose design, they have been increasingly used for general computations with very good results. Hence, there is a growing effort from the community to seamlessly integrate this kind of devices in everyday computing. However, to fully exploit the potential of a system comprising GPUs and CPUs, these devices should be presented to the programmer as a single platform. The efficient combination of the power of CPU and GPU devices is highly dependent on each device’s characteristics, resulting in platform specific applications that cannot be ported to different systems. Also, the most efficient work balance among devices is highly dependable on the computations to be performed and respective data sizes. In this work, we propose a solution for heterogeneous environments based on the abstraction level provided by algorithmic skeletons. Our goal is to take full advantage of the power of all CPU and GPU devices present in a system, without the need for different kernel implementations nor explicit work-distribution.To that end, we extended Marrow, an algorithmic skeleton framework for multi-GPUs, to support CPU computations and efficiently balance the work-load between devices. Our approach is based on an offline training execution that identifies the ideal work balance and platform configurations for a given application and input data size. The evaluation of this work shows that the combination of CPU and GPU devices can significantly boost the performance of our benchmarks in the tested environments, when compared to GPU-only executions.

Improved polymeric medical devices for active substances delivery

The work presented in this thesis was developed in collaboration with a Portuguese company, BeyonDevices, devoted to pharmaceutical packaging, medical technology and device industry. Specifically, the composition impact and surface modification of two polymeric medical devices from the company were studied: inhalers and vaginal applicators. The polyethylene-based vaginal applicator was modified using supercritical fluid technology to acquire self-cleaning properties and prevent the transport of bacteria and yeasts to vaginal flora. For that, in-situ polymerization of 2-substituted oxazolines was performed within the polyethylene matrix using supercritical carbon dioxide. The cationic ring-opening polymerization process was followed by end-capping with N,N-dimethyldodecylamine. Furthermore, for the same propose, the polyethylene matrix was impregnated with lavender oil in supercritical medium. The obtained materials were characterized physical and morphologically and the antimicrobial activity against bacteria and yeasts was accessed. Materials modified using 2-substituted oxazolines showed an effective killing ability for all the tested microorganisms, while the materials modified with lavender oil did not show antimicrobial activity. Only materials modified with oligo(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) maintain the activity during the long term stability. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of the materials was tested, confirming their biocompatibilty. Regarding the inhaler, its surface was modified in order to improve powder flowability and consequently, to reduce powder retention in the inhaler´s nozzle. New dry powder inhalers (DPIs), with different needle’s diameters, were evaluated in terms of internal resistance and uniformity of the emitted dose. It was observed that they present a mean resistance of 0.06 cmH2O0.5/(L/min) and the maximum emitted dose obtained was 68.9% for the inhaler with higher needle´s diameter (2 mm). Thus, this inhaler was used as a test and modified by the coating with a commonly-used force control agent, magnesium stearate, dried with supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) and the uniformity of delivered dose tests were repeated. The modified inhaler showed an increase in emitted dose from 68.9% to 71.3% for lactose and from 30.0% to 33.7% for Foradil.

Identificação das práticas de inovação aberta nas parcerias estratégicas: avaliação realizada com prestadores de cloud computing

No atual contexto da inovação, um grande número de estudos tem analisado o potencial do modelo de Inovação Aberta. Neste sentido, o autor Henry Chesbrough (2003) considerado o pai da Inovação Aberta, afirma que as empresas estão vivenciando uma “mudança de paradigma” na maneira como desenvolvem os seus processos de inovação e na comercialização de tecnologia e conhecimento. Desta forma, o modelo de Inovação Aberta defende que as empresas podem e devem utilizar os recursos disponíveis fora das suas fronteiras sendo esta combinação de ideias e tecnologias internas e externas crucial para atingir uma posição de liderança no mercado. Já afirmava Chesbrough (2003) que não se faz inovação isoladamente e o próprio dinamismo do cenário atual reforça esta ideia. Assim, os riscos inerentes ao processo de inovação podem ser atenuados através da realização de parcerias entre empresas e instituições. A adoção do modelo de Inovação Aberta é percebida com base na abundância de conhecimento disponível, que poderá proporcionar valor também à empresa que o criou, como é o caso do licenciamento de patentes. O presente estudo teve como objetivo identificar as práticas de Inovação Aberta entre as parcerias mencionadas pelas empresas prestadoras de Cloud Computing. Através da Análise de Redes Sociais foram construídas matrizes referentes às parcerias mencionadas pelas empresas e informações obtidas em fontes secundárias (Sousa, 2012). Essas matrizes de relacionamento (redes) foram analisadas e representadas através de diagramas. Desta forma, foi possível traçar um panorama das parcerias consideradas estratégicas pelas empresas entrevistadas e identificar quais delas constituem, de fato, práticas de Inovação Aberta. Do total de 26 parcerias estratégicas mencionadas nas entrevistas, apenas 11 foram caracterizadas como práticas do modelo aberto. A análise das práticas conduzidas pelas empresas entrevistadas permite verificar algumas limitações no aproveitamento do modelo de Inovação Aberta. Por fim, são feitas algumas recomendações sobre a implementação deste modelo pelas pequenas e médias empresas baseadas em tecnologias emergentes, como é o caso do conceito de cloud computing.

Posicionamento do Brasil face aos países mais avançados em cloud computing

This study discusses some fundamental issues so that the development and diffusion of services based in cloud computing happen positively in several countries. For exposure of this subject is discusses public initiatives by the most advanced countries in terms of cloud computing application and the brazilin position in this context. Based on presented evidences here it appears that the essential elements for the development and diffusion of cloud computing in Brazil made important steps and show evidence of maturity, as the cybercrime legislation. However, other elements still require analysis and specifically adaptations for the cloud computing case, such as the Intellectual Property Rights. Despite showing broadband services still lacking, one cannot disregard the government effort to facilitate access for all society. In contrast, the large volume of the Brazilian IT market is an interest factor for companies seeking to invest in the country.

Healthcare and medical tourism - Cascais Municipality case study

The purpose of this work project is to evaluate Cascais’ potential of becoming a reference in Health Care and Medical Tourism in the near future. It is done a careful research about the industry, followed by a thorough analysis of the region. It is concluded that it holds many key characteristics and conditions for the development of this kind of clusters, even though it lacks consumers’ perception regarding this product. Some guidelines are suggested in order to position Cascais as a competitive player in this field.

From "Humanities and Computing" to "Digital Humanities": Digital Humanities in Portugal with a focus on Historical Research

In the following text I will develop three major aspects. The first is to draw attention to those who seem to have been the disciplinary fields where, despite everything, the Digital Humanities (in the broad perspective as will be regarded here) have asserted themselves in a more comprehensive manner. I think it is here that I run into greater risks, not only for what I have mentioned above, but certainly because a significant part, perhaps, of the achievements and of the researchers might have escaped the look that I sought to cast upon the past few decades, always influenced by my own experience and the work carried out in the field of History. But this can be considered as a work in progress and it is open to criticism and suggestions. A second point to note is that emphasis will be given to the main lines of development in the relationship between historical research and digital methodologies, resources and tools. Finally, I will try to make a brief analysis of what has been the Digital Humanities discourse appropriation in recent years, with very debatable data and methods for sure, because studies are still scarce and little systematic information is available that would allow to go beyond an introductory reflection.