Uma análise exploratória da indústria de serviços PWLAN Wi-Fi no Brasil: em busca de uma vantagem competitiva sustentável

As telecomunicações no mundo têm avançado a passos largos na oferta de novas tecnologias e padrões que viabilizam e flexibilizam a transmissão / recepção de informações entre pessoas e a Internet. Em especial, no que tange à ubiqüidade, o uso de dispositivos de comunicações móveis sem fio, como telefones celulares e PDAs (Personnal Digital Assistant), tem permitido às empresas alcançarem seus clientes a qualquer hora e em qualquer lugar. Muitos padrões de comunicação wireless têm surgido, inicialmente na indústria de telefonia móvel celular e, em seguida, na indústria de computadores e PDAs, habilitando a comunicação wireless de dados em banda larga e o comércio eletrônico móvel (m-commerce). Em especial, o padrão Wi-Fi tem sido difundido mundialmente através da expansão de redes públicas sem fio (PWLANs). Assim, os fabricantes de equipamentos de telecomunicações, as empresas operadoras de serviços de telefonia fixa e móvel e até provedores de acesso à Internet têm manifestado grande interesse nessa área por perceberem novas oportunidades de aumento de receita através da tecnologia Wi-Fi. Todos estes aspectos da recente história do Wi-Fi têm gerado questionamentos quanto a seu futuro sucesso e real geração de vantagem competitiva sustentável, não obstante o volume de negócios relativos a esta tecnologia estar em franco crescimento. Este trabalho propõe-se a analisar o mercado de serviços PWLAN Wi-Fi brasileiro, identificando os principais atores e os modelos de negócio praticados por eles, comparando esses modelos aos modelos identificados por Shubar e Lechner. O estudo propõe-se, também, a avaliar tais empresas e seus respectivos modelos de negócio segundo o framework VRIO desenvolvido por Barney com base na visão estratégica baseada em recursos (RBV- Resource Based View).

Strategie di elaborazione di tracciati GPS per reti veicolari

Il proliferare di dispositivi di elaborazione e comunicazione mobili (telefoni cellulari, computer portatili, PDA, wearable devices, personal digital assistant) sta guidando un cambiamento rivoluzionario nella nostra società dell'informazione. Si sta migrando dall'era dei Personal Computer all'era dell'Ubiquitous Computing, in cui un utente utilizza, parallelamente, svariati dispositivi elettronici attraverso cui può accedere a tutte le informazioni, ovunque e quantunque queste gli si rivelino necessarie. In questo scenario, anche le mappe digitali stanno diventando sempre più parte delle nostre attività quotidiane; esse trasmettono informazioni vitali per una pletora di applicazioni che acquistano maggior valore grazie alla localizzazione, come Yelp, Flickr, Facebook, Google Maps o semplicemente le ricerche web geo-localizzate. Gli utenti di PDA e Smartphone dipendono sempre più dai GPS e dai Location Based Services (LBS) per la navigazione, sia automobilistica che a piedi. Gli stessi servizi di mappe stanno inoltre evolvendo la loro natura da uni-direzionale a bi-direzionale; la topologia stradale è arricchita da informazioni dinamiche, come traffico in tempo reale e contenuti creati dagli utenti. Le mappe digitali aggiornabili dinamicamente sono sul punto di diventare un saldo trampolino di lancio per i sistemi mobili ad alta dinamicità ed interattività, che poggiando su poche informazioni fornite dagli utenti, porteranno una moltitudine di applicazioni innovative ad un'enorme base di consumatori. I futuri sistemi di navigazione per esempio, potranno utilizzare informazioni estese su semafori, presenza di stop ed informazioni sul traffico per effettuare una ottimizzazione del percorso che valuti simultaneamente fattori come l'impronta al carbonio rilasciata, il tempo di viaggio effettivamente necessario e l'impatto della scelta sul traffico locale. In questo progetto si mostra come i dati GPS raccolti da dispositivi fissi e mobili possano essere usati per estendere le mappe digitali con la locazione dei segnali di stop, dei semafori e delle relative temporizzazioni. Queste informazioni sono infatti oggi rare e locali ad ogni singola municipalità, il che ne rende praticamente impossibile il pieno reperimento. Si presenta quindi un algoritmo che estrae utili informazioni topologiche da agglomerati di tracciati gps, mostrando inoltre che anche un esiguo numero di veicoli equipaggiati con la strumentazione necessaria sono sufficienti per abilitare l'estensione delle mappe digitali con nuovi attributi. Infine, si mostrerà come l'algoritmo sia in grado di lavorare anche con dati mancanti, ottenendo ottimi risultati e mostrandosi flessibile ed adatto all'integrazione in sistemi reali.

The Choosing Healthy Options of Starches (CHOOS) diet and dietary intake self-monitoring for weight loss among adolescent females

Previous research has shown dietary intake self-monitoring, and culturally tailored weight loss interventions to be effective tools for weight loss. Technology can be used to tailor weight loss interventions to better suit adolescents. There is a lack of research to date on the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) to self-monitor dietary intake among adolescents. The objective of this study was to determine the difference in dietary intake self-monitoring frequency between using a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or paper logs as a diet diary in obese adolescent females; and to describe differences in diet adherence, as well as changes in body size and self-efficacy to resist eating. We hypothesized dietary intake self-monitoring frequency would be greater during PDA use than during paper log use. This study was a randomized crossover trial. Participants recorded their diet for 4 weeks: 2 weeks on a PDA and 2 weeks on paper logs. Thirty-four obese females ages 12-20 were recruited for participation. Thirty were included in analyses. Participants recorded more entries/day while using the paper logs (4.10 entries/day ± 0.63) than while using the PDA (3.01 entries/day ±0.75) (p<0.001). Significantly more meals and snacks were skipped during paper log use (0.81/day ± 0.65) than during PDA use (0.23/day ± 0.22) (p=0.011). Changes in body size (BMI, weight, and waist circumference) and self-efficacy to resist eating did not differ significantly between PDA and paper log use. When compared to paper logs, participants felt the PDA was more convenient (p=0.020), looked forward to using the PDA more (p=0.008), and would rather continue using the PDA than the paper logs (p=0.020). The findings of this study indicate use of a PDA as a dietary intake self-monitoring tool among adolescents would not result in increased dietary intake self-monitoring to aid in weight loss. Use of paper logs would result in greater data returned to clinicians, though use of PDAs would likely get adolescents more excited about adhering to recommendations to record their diet. Future research should look at updated communication devices, such as cell phones and other PDAs with additional features, and the role they can play in increasing dietary intake self-monitoring among adolescents.^

Practical use of digital cameras for microphotography through the operating microscope

A practical use of personal digital cameras for taking digital photographs in the microsurgical field through an operating microscope is described. This inexpensive and practical method for acquiring microscopic images at the desired magnification combines the advantages of the digital camera and the operating microscope.

Wearable schizophrenia treatment with real-time affective context awareness

The Personal Health Assistant Project (PHA) is a pilot system implementation sponsored by the Kozani Region Governors’ Association (KRGA) and installed in one of the two major public hospitals of the city of Kozani. PHA is intended to demonstrate how a secure, networked, multipurpose electronic health and food benefits digital signage system can transform common TV sets inside patient homes or hospital rooms into health care media players and facilitate information sharing and improve administrative efficiency among private doctors, public health care providers, informal caregivers, and nutrition program private companies, while placing individual patients firmly in control of the information at hand. This case evaluation of the PHA demonstration is intended to provide critical information to other decision makers considering implementing PHA or related digital signage technology at other institutions and public hospitals around the globe.

A service-oriented user interaction analysis framework supporting adaptive applications

A comprehensive user model, built by monitoring a user's current use of applications, can be an excellent starting point for building adaptive user-centred applications. The BaranC framework monitors all user interaction with a digital device (e.g. smartphone), and also collects all available context data (such as from sensors in the digital device itself, in a smart watch, or in smart appliances) in order to build a full model of user application behaviour. The model built from the collected data, called the UDI (User Digital Imprint), is further augmented by analysis services, for example, a service to produce activity profiles from smartphone sensor data. The enhanced UDI model can then be the basis for building an appropriate adaptive application that is user-centred as it is based on an individual user model. As BaranC supports continuous user monitoring, an application can be dynamically adaptive in real-time to the current context (e.g. time, location or activity). Furthermore, since BaranC is continuously augmenting the user model with more monitored data, over time the user model changes, and the adaptive application can adapt gradually over time to changing user behaviour patterns. BaranC has been implemented as a service-oriented framework where the collection of data for the UDI and all sharing of the UDI data are kept strictly under the user's control. In addition, being service-oriented allows (with the user's permission) its monitoring and analysis services to be easily used by 3rd parties in order to provide 3rd party adaptive assistant services. An example 3rd party service demonstrator, built on top of BaranC, proactively assists a user by dynamic predication, based on the current context, what apps and contacts the user is likely to need. BaranC introduces an innovative user-controlled unified service model of monitoring and use of personal digital activity data in order to provide adaptive user-centred applications. This aims to improve on the current situation where the diversity of adaptive applications results in a proliferation of applications monitoring and using personal data, resulting in a lack of clarity, a dispersal of data, and a diminution of user control.

Evaluation of three brands of drug interaction software for use in intensive care units

Objective To evaluate drug interaction software programs and determine their accuracy in identifying drug-drug interactions that may occur in intensive care units. Setting The study was developed in Brazil. Method Drug interaction software programs were identified through a bibliographic search in PUBMED and in LILACS (database related to the health sciences published in Latin American and Caribbean countries). The programs` sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were determined to assess their accuracy in detecting drug-drug interactions. The accuracy of the software programs identified was determined using 100 clinically important interactions and 100 clinically unimportant ones. Stockley`s Drug Interactions 8th edition was employed as the gold standard in the identification of drug-drug interaction. Main outcome Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values. Results The programs studied were: Drug Interaction Checker (DIC), Drug-Reax (DR), and Lexi-Interact (LI). DR displayed the highest sensitivity (0.88) and DIC showed the lowest (0.69). A close similarity was observed among the programs regarding specificity (0.88-0.92) and positive predictive values (0.88-0.89). The DIC had the lowest negative predictive value (0.75) and DR the highest (0.91). Conclusion The DR and LI programs displayed appropriate sensitivity and specificity for identifying drug-drug interactions of interest in intensive care units. Drug interaction software programs help pharmacists and health care teams in the prevention and recognition of drug-drug interactions and optimize safety and quality of care delivered in intensive care units.

The Rural Clinical Division: a student journey to rural medicine

Background: The University of Queensland has through an Australian Government initiative, established a Rural Clinical Division (RCD) at four regional sites in the southern and central Queensland. Over the fi rst four years of the existence of the RCD, an integrated package of innovative medical education has been developed. Method: The integrated aspects of the RCD program include: The Rural Medical Rotation: Every medical student undertakes an eight week rural rotation in Year 3. Year 3 and 4 MBBS - 100 students are currently spending one to two years in the rural school and demand is increasing. Interprofessional Education - Medical and Allied Health students attend lectures, seminars and workshops together and often share the same rural clinical placement. Rural health projects - allow students to undertake a project of benefi t to the rural community. Information Technology (IT) - the Clinical Discussion Board (CDB) and Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) demonstrate the importance of IT to medical students in the 21st century. Changing the Model of Medical Education - The Leichhardt Community Attachment Placement (LCAP), is a pilot study that resulted in the addition of three interns to the rural workforce. All aspects of the RCD are evaluated with surveys using both qualitative and quantitative free response questions, completed by all students regularly throughout the academic year. Results: Measures of impact include: Student satisfaction and quality of teaching surveys – 86-91% of students improved their clinical skills and understanding across all rotations. Academic results and progress – RCD students out-perform their urban colleagues. Intent to work in rural areas – 90% of students reported a greater interest in rural medicine. Intern numbers – rural / regional intern placements are increasing. Conclusions: The RCD proves to be a site for innovations all designed to help reach our primary goal of fostering increased recruitment of a rural medical workforce.

Sistema de recolha e execução de rotas (GPS) e partilha em rede social RecGPS

A popularização dos PDA (Personal Data Assistant ) originou um aumento das suas capacidades e funcionalidades, nomeadamente a inclusão de sistemas de posicionamento global(GPS - Global Positioning System ). Tendo como objectivo o aproveitamento das capacidades deste tipo de dispositivos surge o sistema RecGPS. O RecGPS é um pacote de aplicações para recolha, gestão, análise e partilha de percursos (rotas). A recolha e armazenamento das rotas é efectuada através de uma aplicação instalada no PDA com recurso à funcionalidade GPS do mesmo. A gestão e análise das rotas pode ser efectuada nas aplicações PDA e web, sendo a partilha efectuada através de aplicação web (portal/rede social). A colecção de rotas tanto pode ser armazenada no dispositivo como através da aplicação web. Ao nível do PDA para além da criação de novas rotas é possível executar as rotas existentes, efectuando recolha de dados que permitem a comparação com as execuções anteriores. A rede social permite a partilha de rotas e fomenta a discussão dos utilizadores sobre as mesmas. Para permitir a veri cação das capacidades da aplicação para PDA são efectuados testes. Tendo por base um conjunto de amostras são obtidos resultados através da aplicação e efectuada a sua comparação.

Ubiquitous ambient intelligence in a flight decision assistance system

In this paper a new free flight instrument is presented. The instrument named FlyMaster distinguishes from others not only at hardware level, since it is the first one based on a PDA and with an RF interface for wireless sensors, but also at software level once its structure was developed following some guidelines from Ambient Intelligence and ubiquitous and context aware mobile computing. In this sense the software has several features which avoid pilot intervention during flight. Basically, the FlyMaster adequate the displayed information to each flight situation. Furthermore, the FlyMaster has its one way of show information.

Estudo de usabilidade das aplicações mobile: caso prático o Meethub

Relatório de estágio apresentado à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Audiovisual e Multimédia.

Gesture based interface for image annotation

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Handheld-assisted field data collection for occupational risk assessment.

A computerized handheld procedure is presented in this paper. It is intended as a database complementary tool, to enhance prospective risk analysis in the field of occupational health. The Pendragon forms software (version 3.2) has been used to implement acquisition procedures on Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and to transfer data to a computer in an MS-Access format. The data acquisition strategy proposed relies on the risk assessment method practiced at the Institute of Occupational Health Sciences (IST). It involves the use of a systematic hazard list and semi-quantitative risk assessment scales. A set of 7 modular forms has been developed to cover the basic need of field audits. Despite the minor drawbacks observed, the results obtained so far show that handhelds are adequate to support field risk assessment and follow-up activities. Further improvements must still be made in order to increase the tool effectiveness and field adequacy.

Adaptive intelligent agent approach to guide the web navigation on the PLAN-G distance learning platform

Hypermedia systems based on the Web for open distance education are becoming increasinglypopular as tools for user-driven access learning information. Adaptive hypermedia is a new direction in research within the area of user-adaptive systems, to increase its functionality by making it personalized [Eklu 961. This paper sketches a general agents architecture to include navigationaladaptability and user-friendly processes which would guide and accompany the student during hislher learning on the PLAN-G hypermedia system (New Generation Telematics Platform to Support Open and Distance Learning), with the aid of computer networks and specifically WWW technology [Marz 98-1] [Marz 98-2]. The PLAN-G actual prototype is successfully used with some informatics courses (the current version has no agents yet). The propased multi-agent system, contains two different types of adaptive autonomous software agents: Personal Digital Agents {Interface), to interacl directly with the student when necessary; and Information Agents (Intermediaries), to filtrate and discover information to learn and to adapt navigation space to a specific student

Suitability of Ultra Wideband for Mobile Devices

Mobiililaitteet ovat kehittyneet merkittävästi viimeisen vuosikymmenen aikana. Ne eivät enää ole pelkästään puhelimia tai kämmentietokoneita, vaan multimediatietokoneita, jotka pystyvät tuottamaan korkealaatuisia elämyksiä käyttäjälleen.Sisällön laadun paraneminen johtaa väistämättä myös siirrettävän tietomäärän kasvamiseen. Siksi uusia, nopeampia tiedonsiirtomenetelmiä on otettava käyttöön. Ultra Wideband (UWB) on uusi radioaaltotekniikka, jokamahdollistaa korkeat tiedonsiirtonopeudet lyhyillä etäisyyksillä. Tekniikka operoi erittäin leveällä 3.1 - 10.6 gigahertsin taajuuskaistalla.UWB on suunnattu nopeaan, langattomaan tiedonsiirtoon personal area networkin (PAN) laitteiden välillä. Tämän diplomityön tarkoituksena on arvioida UWBn soveltuvuutta mobiililaitteisiin. Arviointi tehdään teoreettiselta pohjalta, sillä UWBtä ei vielä ole implementoitu kaupallisiin laitteisiin. Ensin esitellään UWBn tekniikka ja ominaisuudet, jonka jälkeen sen soveltuvuutta arvioidaan esimerkkikäyttötapausten valossa. Esimerkkikäyttötapauksiksi on valittu kolme tyypillistä mutta erilaista toimintoa, jotka mahdollisimman hyvin kuvaavat mobiililaitteiden käyttöä.