Promoting independent living and recreation in life through ambient assisted living technology

The increase in life expectancy with a decrease in birth rates is contributing to the ageing of the European population. This phenomenon, coupled with greater awareness of the quality of life, the need to have cost-efficient assistive care, the intention of people to live independently in their homes, and the technological developments in recent decades, have contributed to the emergence of the concept of ambient assisted living (AAL). AAL solutions aim to provide healthy and safe ageing to users through promoting independence in performing daily activities and interacting with technology, taking into consideration the deterioration of the users’ capabilities and the reduced costs of the solutions. In this chapter, AAL developments of monitoring activities of daily living (ADLs) and participation in a virtual community with the selected stakeholders are introduced, their roadmap with the expected technological developments are described, and the expected impact of these solutions on the end users of the developed solutions are discussed. This enables a real user guidance structure that represents the different needs and limitations of each user, presenting a highly structured project based on personas and possible solutions for them. The AAL4ALL Ambient Assisted Living for All (ALL4ALL) project is considered here as a case study to analyze and illustrate the ALL concepts discussed in this chapter.

Light-controlled resistive switching in laser-assisted annealed Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 thin films

In this work, Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 (BST)/ITO structures were grown on glass substrate and laser assisted annealing (LAA) was performed to promote the crystallization of BST. Atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction studies confirm the crack free and polycrystalline perovskite phase of BST. White light controlled resistive switching (RS) effect in Au/BST/ITO device is investigated. The device displays the electroforming-free bipolar RS characteristics and are explained by the modulationof the width and height of barrier at the BST/ITO interface via ferroelectric polarization. Moreover, the RS effect is signifi- cantly improved under white light illumination compared to that in the dark. The enhanced RS and photovoltaic effects are explained by considering depolarization field and charge distribution at the interface. The devices exhibit stable retention characteristics with low currents (mA), which make them attractive for non volatile memory devices.

Hand gesture recognition system based in computer vision and machine learning: Applications on human-machine interaction

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia de Eletrónica e de Computadores

Hybrid hypervisor partially deployed on FPGA

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia Eletrónica e Computadores.

Digital literacy, technology and social inclusion: making sense of one-to-one computer programmes around the world

This book was produced in the scope of a research project entitled “Navigating with ‘Magalhães’: Study on the Impact of Digital Media in Schoolchildren”. This study was conducted between May 2010 and May 2013 at the Communication and Society Research Centre, University of Minho, Portugal and it was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/CCI-COM/101381/2008).

Foreword [to Digital literacy, technology and social inclusion: making sense of one-to-one computer programmes around the world]

(Excerto) In times past, learning to read, write and do arithmetic was to get on course to earn the “writ of emancipation” in society. These skills are still essential today, but are not enough to live in society. Reading and critically understanding the world we live in, with all its complexity, difficulties and challenges, require not only other skills (learning to search for and validate information, reading with new codes and grammar, etc) but, to a certain extent, also metaskills, matrixes and mechanisms that are transversal to the different and new literacies, are necessary. They are needed not just to interpret but equally to communicate and participate in the little worlds that make up our everyday activities as well as, in a broader sense, in the world of the polis, which today is a global world.

Introduction [to Digital literacy, technology and social inclusion: making sense of one-to-one computer programmes around the world]

This book was produced in the scope of a research project entitled “Navigating with ‘Magalhães’: Study on the Impact of Digital Media in Schoolchildren”. This study was conducted between May 2010 and May 2013 at the Communication and Society Research Centre, University of Minho, Portugal and it was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/CCI-COM/101381/2008). As we shall explain in more detail later in this book, the main objective of that research project was to analyse the impact of the Portuguese government programme named ´e-escolinha´ launched in 2008 within the Technological Plan for Education. This Plan responds to the principles of the Lisbon Strategy signed in 2000 and rereleased in the Spring European Council of 2005.

Laser assisted extraction of pacemaker and implantable defibrillator leads

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the results of laser-assisted extraction of permanent pacemaker and defibrillator leads. METHODS: We operated upon 36 patients, whose mean age was 54.2 years, and extracted 56 leads. The reasons for extracting the leads were as follows: infection in 19 patients, elective replacement in 13, and other causes in 4 patients. The mean time of catheter placement was 7.5±5.5 years. Forty-seven leads were from pacemakers, and 9 were from defibrillators. Thirty-eight leads were in use, 14 had been abandoned in the pacemaker pocket, and 4 had been abandoned inside the venous system. RESULTS: We successfully extracted 54 catheters, obtaining a 96.4% rate of success and an 82.1% rate for complete extraction. The 2 unsuccessful cases were due to the presence of calcium in the trajectory of the lead. The mean duration of laser light application was 123.0±104.5 s, using 5,215.2±4,924.0 pulses, in a total of 24.4±24.2 cycles of application. Thirty-four leads were extracted from the myocardium with countertraction after complete progression of the laser sheath, 12 leads came loose during the progression of the laser sheath, and the remaining 10 were extracted with other maneuvers. One patient experienced cardiac tamponade after extraction of the defibrillator lead, requiring open emergency surgery. CONCLUSION: The use of the excimer laser allowed extraction of the leads with a 96% rate of success; it was not effective in 2 patients who had calcification on the lead. One patient (2.8%) had a complication that required cardiac surgery on an emergency basis.

Video-assisted pericardioscopy. How to improve diagnostic efficacy in pericardial effusions

OBJECTIVE: To assess, in a prospective way, the experience with video-assisted pericardioscopy obtained in patients with pericardial effusion of unclear etiology in the preoperative period. METHODS: From January 1998 to June 2000, 20 patients were operated upon with the aid of video-assisted pericardioscopy. On echocardiography, 17 of these patients had significant pericardial effusion, and 3 had moderate pericardial effusion. Video-assisted pericardioscopy was performed through a small incision of the Marfan type. RESULTS: The diagnosis of pericardial effusion was established as follows: idiopathic in 9 (45%) patients, neoplastic in 4 (20%), resulting from hypothyroidism in 3 (15%), tuberculous in 2 (10%), due to cholesterol in 1 (5%), and chylopericardial in 1 (5%). The biopsy was positive in 30% of the patients, and the etiology could not be defined in 45% of the patients. CONCLUSION: Video-assisted pericardioscopy proved to be a method with low morbidity and a high index of diagnostic positivity. A high percentage of pericardial effusions are caused by viral infections, which are not diagnosed through current methods, being, therefore, classified as idiopathic.

Flora of tropical Africa /by Daniel Oliver ... assisted by other botanists.

v. 1 1868 - Ranuncul-Connar

Flora of tropical Africa /by Daniel Oliver ... assisted by other botanists.

v. 2 1871 - Leguminosae-Ficoideae

Flora of tropical Africa /by Daniel Oliver ... assisted by other botanists.

v. 3 1877 - Umbelliferae-Eben

Flora of tropical Africa /by Daniel Oliver ... assisted by other botanists.

v. 4 (1-4) 1902-04 - Ola-Gentianeae

Flora of tropical Africa /by Daniel Oliver ... assisted by other botanists.

v. 4 (1-3) 1905-06 - Hydrophyll-Pedalineae