Location-Based services - A crescente importância da localização

Dissertação apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Estatística e Gestão de Informação

Multi-agent system for personalization of location-based services

The current ubiquitous network access and increase in network bandwidth are driving the sales of mobile location-aware user devices and, consequently, the development of context-aware applications, namely location-based services. The goal of this project is to provide consumers of location-based services with a richer end-user experience by means of service composition, personalization, device adaptation and continuity of service. Our approach relies on a multi-agent system composed of proxy agents that act as mediators and providers of personalization meta-services, device adaptation and continuity of service for consumers of pre-existing location-based services. These proxy agents, which have Web services interfaces to ensure a high level of interoperability, perform service composition and take in consideration the preferences of the users, the limitations of the user devices, making the usage of different types of devices seamless for the end-user. To validate and evaluate the performance of this approach, use cases were defined, tests were conducted and results gathered which demonstrated that the initial goals were successfully fulfilled.

Proposal for shared services performance management model applied to portugueses public administration

Comunicação apresentada no 8º Congresso Nacional de Administração Pública - Desafios e Soluções, em Carcavelos de 21 a 22 de Novembro de 2011.

Service-oriented mobility of java code in web services-based architectures

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologias da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

Parallelization of web processing services on cloud computing: A case study of Geostatistical Methods

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.

Dynamic adaptation of interaction models for stateful web services

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

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.

Product extension services deployment platform

Due to the progresses made in the branch of embedded technologies, manufacturers are becoming able to pack their shop floor level manufacturing resources with even more complex functionalities. This technological progression is radically changing the way production systems are designed and deployed, as well as, monitored and controlled. The dissemination of smart devices inside production processes confers new visibility on the production system while enabling for a more efficient and effective management of the operations. By turning the current manufacturing resources functionalities into services based on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), in order to expose them as a service to the user, the binomial manufacturing resource/service will push the entire manufacturing enterprise visibility to another level while enabling the global optimization of the operations and processes of a production system while, at the same time, supporting its accommodation to the operational spike easily and with reduced impact on production. The present work implements a Cloud Manufacturing infrastructure for achieving the resource/service value-added i.e. to facilitate the creation of services that are the composition of currently available atomic services. In this context, manufacturing resource virtualization (i.e. formalization of resources capabilities into services accessible inside and outside the enterprise) and semantic representation/description are the pillars for achieving resource service composition. In conclusion, the present work aims to act on the manufacturing resource layer where physical resources and shop floor capabilities are going to be provided to the user as a SaaS (Software as a Service) and/or IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service).

A trust model for cloud computing environment

This paper presents a proposal for a management model based on reliability requirements concerning Cloud Computing (CC). The proposal was based on a literature review focused on the problems, challenges and underway studies related to the safety and reliability of Information Systems (IS) in this technological environment. This literature review examined the existing obstacles and challenges from the point of view of respected authors on the subject. The main issues are addressed and structured as a model, called "Trust Model for Cloud Computing environment". This is a proactive proposal that purposes to organize and discuss management solutions for the CC environment, aiming improved reliability of the IS applications operation, for both providers and their customers. On the other hand and central to trust, one of the CC challenges is the development of models for mutual audit management agreements, so that a formal relationship can be established involving the relevant legal responsibilities. To establish and control the appropriate contractual requirements, it is necessary to adopt technologies that can collect the data needed to inform risk decisions, such as access usage, security controls, location and other references related to the use of the service. In this process, the cloud service providers and consumers themselves must have metrics and controls to support cloud-use management in compliance with the SLAs agreed between the parties. The organization of these studies and its dissemination in the market as a conceptual model that is able to establish parameters to regulate a reliable relation between provider and user of IT services in CC environment is an interesting instrument to guide providers, developers and users in order to provide services and secure and reliable applications.

Communications with QoS in IoT&Cloud environment

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia de Telecomunicações e Informática

Promoting hospital-based smoking cessation services at major Swiss hospitals: a before and after study.

Whether a 1-year nationwide, government supported programme is effective in significantly increasing the number of smoking cessation clinics at major Swiss hospitals as well as providing basic training for the staff running them. We conducted a baseline evaluation of hospital services for smoking cessation, hypertension, and obesity by web search and telephone contact followed by personal visits between October 2005 and January 2006 of 44 major public hospitals in the 26 cantons of Switzerland; we compared the number of active smoking cessation services and trained personnel between baseline to 1 year after starting the programme including a training workshop for doctors and nurses from all hospitals as well as two further follow-up visits. At base line 9 (21%) hospitals had active smoking cessation services, whereas 43 (98%) and 42 (96%) offered medical services for hypertension and obesity respectively. Hospital directors and heads of Internal Medicine of 43 hospitals were interested in offering some form of help to smokers provided they received outside support, primarily funding to get started or to continue. At two identical workshops, 100 health professionals (27 in Lausanne, 73 in Zurich) were trained for one day. After the programme, 22 (50%) hospitals had an active smoking cessation service staffed with at least 1 trained doctor and 1 nurse. A one-year, government-supported national intervention resulted in a substantial increase in the number of hospitals allocating trained staff and offering smoking cessation services to smokers. Compared to the offer for hypertension and obesity this offer is still insufficient.

Trends of pre-hospital emergency medical services activity over 10 years : a population-based registry analysis

BACKGROUND: The number of requests to pre-hospital emergency medical services (PEMS) has increased in Europe over the last 20 years, but epidemiology of PEMS interventions has little be investigated. The aim of this analysis was to describe time trends of PEMS activity in a region of western Switzerland. METHODS: Use of data routinely and prospectively collected for PEMS intervention in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, from 2001 to 2010. This Swiss Canton comprises approximately 10% of the whole Swiss population. RESULTS: We observed a 40% increase in the number of requests to PEMS between 2001 and 2010. The overall rate of requests was 35/1000 inhabitants for ambulance services and 10/1000 for medical interventions (SMUR), with the highest rate among people aged ≥ 80. Most frequent reasons for the intervention were related to medical problems, predominantly unconsciousness, chest pain respiratory distress, or cardiac arrest, whereas severe trauma interventions decreased over time. Overall, 89% were alive after 48 h. The survival rate after 48 h increased regularly for cardiac arrest or myocardial infarction. CONCLUSION: Routine prospective data collection of prehospital emergency interventions and monitoring of activity was feasible over time. The results we found add to the understanding of determinants of PEMS use and need to be considered to plan use of emergency health services in the near future. More comprehensive analysis of the quality of services and patient safety supported by indicators are also required, which might help to develop prehospital emergency services and new processes of care.

Market-Based Instruments for ecosystem services: institutional innovation or renovation?

Recent years have seen widespread experimentation with market-based instruments (MBIs) for the provision of environmental goods and ecosystem services. However, little attention has been paid to their design or to the effects of the underlying pro-market narrative on environmental policy instruments. The purpose of this article is to analyze the emergence and dissemination of the term "market-based instruments" applied to the provision of environmental services and to assess to what extent the instruments associated are genuinely innovative. The recommendation to develop markets can lead in practice to a variety of institutional forms, as we show it based on the example of payments for environmental services (PES) and biodiversity offsets, two very different mechanisms that are both presented in the literature as MBIs. Our purpose is to highlight the gap between discourse and practice in connection with MBIs.

Environmental Tax on Products and Services Based on Their Carbon Footprint: A Case Study of the Pulp and Paper Sector

The main aim of this work is to define an environmental tax on products and services based on their carbon footprint. We examine the relevance of conventional life cycle analysis (LCA) and environmentally extended input-output analysis (EIO) as methodological tools to identify emission intensities of products and services on which the tax is based. The short-term price effects of the tax and the policy implications of considering non-GHG are also analyzed. The results from the specific case study on pulp production show that the environmental tax rate based on the LCA approach (1,8%) is higher than both EIO approaches (0,8% for product and 1,4% for industry approach), but they are comparable. Even though LCA is more product specific and provides detailed analysis, EIO would be the more relevant approach to apply economy wide environmental tax. When the environmental tax considers non-GHG emissions instead of only CO2, sectors such as agriculture, mining of coal and extraction of peat, and food exhibit higher environmental tax and price effects. Therefore, it is worthwhile for policy makers to pay attention on the implication of considering only CO2 tax or GHG emissions tax in order for such a policy measure to be effective and meaningful. Keywords: Environmental tax; Life cycle analysis; Environmental input-output analysis.

Gender-based Violence: a resource document for services and organisations working with and for minority ethnic women

Gender-based Violence: a resource document for services and organisations working with and for minority ethnic women Click here to download PDF 492kb This is a publication of the Womens Health Council