Tools and methods for the quality assurance of force platforms in human movement analysis

The human movement analysis (HMA) aims to measure the abilities of a subject to stand or to walk. In the field of HMA, tests are daily performed in research laboratories, hospitals and clinics, aiming to diagnose a disease, distinguish between disease entities, monitor the progress of a treatment and predict the outcome of an intervention [Brand and Crowninshield, 1981; Brand, 1987; Baker, 2006]. To achieve these purposes, clinicians and researchers use measurement devices, like force platforms, stereophotogrammetric systems, accelerometers, baropodometric insoles, etc. This thesis focus on the force platform (FP) and in particular on the quality assessment of the FP data. The principal objective of our work was the design and the experimental validation of a portable system for the in situ calibration of FPs. The thesis is structured as follows: Chapter 1. Description of the physical principles used for the functioning of a FP: how these principles are used to create force transducers, such as strain gauges and piezoelectrics transducers. Then, description of the two category of FPs, three- and six-component, the signals acquisition (hardware structure), and the signals calibration. Finally, a brief description of the use of FPs in HMA, for balance or gait analysis. Chapter 2. Description of the inverse dynamics, the most common method used in the field of HMA. This method uses the signals measured by a FP to estimate kinetic quantities, such as joint forces and moments. The measures of these variables can not be taken directly, unless very invasive techniques; consequently these variables can only be estimated using indirect techniques, as the inverse dynamics. Finally, a brief description of the sources of error, present in the gait analysis. Chapter 3. State of the art in the FP calibration. The selected literature is divided in sections, each section describes: systems for the periodic control of the FP accuracy; systems for the error reduction in the FP signals; systems and procedures for the construction of a FP. In particular is detailed described a calibration system designed by our group, based on the theoretical method proposed by ?. This system was the “starting point” for the new system presented in this thesis. Chapter 4. Description of the new system, divided in its parts: 1) the algorithm; 2) the device; and 3) the calibration procedure, for the correct performing of the calibration process. The algorithm characteristics were optimized by a simulation approach, the results are here presented. In addiction, the different versions of the device are described. Chapter 5. Experimental validation of the new system, achieved by testing it on 4 commercial FPs. The effectiveness of the calibration was verified by measuring, before and after calibration, the accuracy of the FPs in measuring the center of pressure of an applied force. The new system can estimate local and global calibration matrices; by local and global calibration matrices, the non–linearity of the FPs was quantified and locally compensated. Further, a non–linear calibration is proposed. This calibration compensates the non– linear effect in the FP functioning, due to the bending of its upper plate. The experimental results are presented. Chapter 6. Influence of the FP calibration on the estimation of kinetic quantities, with the inverse dynamics approach. Chapter 7. The conclusions of this thesis are presented: need of a calibration of FPs and consequential enhancement in the kinetic data quality. Appendix: Calibration of the LC used in the presented system. Different calibration set–up of a 3D force transducer are presented, and is proposed the optimal set–up, with particular attention to the compensation of non–linearities. The optimal set–up is verified by experimental results.

Use of quality assessment tools in systematic reviews was varied and inconsistent

OBJECTIVES To assess the use of quality assessment tools among a cross-section of systematic reviews (SRs) and to further evaluate whether quality was used as a parameter in the decision to include primary studies within subsequent meta-analysis. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING We searched PubMed for SRs (interventional, observational, and diagnostic) published in Core Clinical Journals between January 1 and March 31, 2014. RESULTS Three hundred nine SRs were identified. Quality assessment was undertaken in 222 (71.8%) with isolated use of the Cochrane risk of bias tool (26.1%, n = 58) and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (15.3%, n = 34) most common. A threshold level of primary study quality for subsequent meta-analysis was used in 12.9% (40 of 309) of reviews. Overall, fifty-four combinations of quality assessment tools were identified with a similar preponderance of tools used among observational and interventional reviews. Multiple tools were used in 11.7% (n = 36) of SRs overall. CONCLUSION We found that quality assessment tools were used in a majority of SRs; however, a threshold level of quality for meta-analysis was stipulated in just 12.9% (n = 40). This cross-sectional analysis provides further evidence of the need for more active or intuitive editorial processes to enhance the reporting of SRs.

Future water quality monitoring--adapting tools to deal with mixtures of pollutants in water resource management.

Environmental quality monitoring of water resources is challenged with providing the basis for safeguarding the environment against adverse biological effects of anthropogenic chemical contamination from diffuse and point sources. While current regulatory efforts focus on monitoring and assessing a few legacy chemicals, many more anthropogenic chemicals can be detected simultaneously in our aquatic resources. However, exposure to chemical mixtures does not necessarily translate into adverse biological effects nor clearly shows whether mitigation measures are needed. Thus, the question which mixtures are present and which have associated combined effects becomes central for defining adequate monitoring and assessment strategies. Here we describe the vision of the international, EU-funded project SOLUTIONS, where three routes are explored to link the occurrence of chemical mixtures at specific sites to the assessment of adverse biological combination effects. First of all, multi-residue target and non-target screening techniques covering a broader range of anticipated chemicals co-occurring in the environment are being developed. By improving sensitivity and detection limits for known bioactive compounds of concern, new analytical chemistry data for multiple components can be obtained and used to characterise priority mixtures. This information on chemical occurrence will be used to predict mixture toxicity and to derive combined effect estimates suitable for advancing environmental quality standards. Secondly, bioanalytical tools will be explored to provide aggregate bioactivity measures integrating all components that produce common (adverse) outcomes even for mixtures of varying compositions. The ambition is to provide comprehensive arrays of effect-based tools and trait-based field observations that link multiple chemical exposures to various environmental protection goals more directly and to provide improved in situ observations for impact assessment of mixtures. Thirdly, effect-directed analysis (EDA) will be applied to identify major drivers of mixture toxicity. Refinements of EDA include the use of statistical approaches with monitoring information for guidance of experimental EDA studies. These three approaches will be explored using case studies at the Danube and Rhine river basins as well as rivers of the Iberian Peninsula. The synthesis of findings will be organised to provide guidance for future solution-oriented environmental monitoring and explore more systematic ways to assess mixture exposures and combination effects in future water quality monitoring.

Visualisation of quality information for geospatial and remote sensing data:providing the GIS community with the decision support tools for geospatial dataset quality evaluation

The evaluation of geospatial data quality and trustworthiness presents a major challenge to geospatial data users when making a dataset selection decision. The research presented here therefore focused on defining and developing a GEO label – a decision support mechanism to assist data users in efficient and effective geospatial dataset selection on the basis of quality, trustworthiness and fitness for use. This thesis thus presents six phases of research and development conducted to: (a) identify the informational aspects upon which users rely when assessing geospatial dataset quality and trustworthiness; (2) elicit initial user views on the GEO label role in supporting dataset comparison and selection; (3) evaluate prototype label visualisations; (4) develop a Web service to support GEO label generation; (5) develop a prototype GEO label-based dataset discovery and intercomparison decision support tool; and (6) evaluate the prototype tool in a controlled human-subject study. The results of the studies revealed, and subsequently confirmed, eight geospatial data informational aspects that were considered important by users when evaluating geospatial dataset quality and trustworthiness, namely: producer information, producer comments, lineage information, compliance with standards, quantitative quality information, user feedback, expert reviews, and citations information. Following an iterative user-centred design (UCD) approach, it was established that the GEO label should visually summarise availability and allow interrogation of these key informational aspects. A Web service was developed to support generation of dynamic GEO label representations and integrated into a number of real-world GIS applications. The service was also utilised in the development of the GEO LINC tool – a GEO label-based dataset discovery and intercomparison decision support tool. The results of the final evaluation study indicated that (a) the GEO label effectively communicates the availability of dataset quality and trustworthiness information and (b) GEO LINC successfully facilitates ‘at a glance’ dataset intercomparison and fitness for purpose-based dataset selection.

Urban air quality: new high-resolution modeling approaches and forecasting tools for citizens

Air pollution is one of the greatest health risks in the world. At the same time, the strong correlation with climate change, as well as with Urban Heat Island and Heat Waves, make more intense the effects of all these phenomena. A good air quality and high levels of thermal comfort are the big goals to be reached in urban areas in coming years. Air quality forecast help decision makers to improve air quality and public health strategies, mitigating the occurrence of acute air pollution episodes. Air quality forecasting approaches combine an ensemble of models to provide forecasts from global to regional air pollution and downscaling for selected countries and regions. The development of models dedicated to urban air quality issues requires a good set of data regarding the urban morphology and building material characteristics. Only few examples of air quality forecast system at urban scale exist in the literature and often they are limited to selected cities. This thesis develops by setting up a methodology for the development of a forecasting tool. The forecasting tool can be adapted to all cities and uses a new parametrization for vegetated areas. The parametrization method, based on aerodynamic parameters, produce the urban spatially varying roughness. At the core of the forecasting tool there is a dispersion model (urban scale) used in forecasting mode, and the meteorological and background concentration forecasts provided by two regional numerical weather forecasting models. The tool produces the 1-day spatial forecast of NO2, PM10, O3 concentration, the air temperature, the air humidity and BLQ-Air index values. The tool is automatized to run every day, the maps produced are displayed on the e-Globus platform, updated every day. The results obtained indicate that the forecasting output were in good agreement with the observed measurements.

Quality Of Life On Arterial Hypertension: Validity Of Known Groups Of Minichal.

Introductions: In the care of hypertension, it is important that health professionals possess available tools that allow evaluating the impairment of the health-related quality of life, according to the severity of hypertension and the risk for cardiovascular events. Among the instruments developed for the assessment of health-related quality of life, there is the Mini-Cuestionario of Calidad de Vida en la Hipertensión Arterial (MINICHAL) recently adapted to the Brazilian culture. Objective: To estimate the validity of known groups of the Brazilian version of the MINICHAL regarding the classification of risk for cardiovascular events, symptoms, severity of dyspnea and target-organ damage. Methods: Data of 200 hypertensive outpatients concerning sociodemographic and clinical information and health-related quality of life were gathered by consulting the medical charts and the application of the Brazilian version of MINICHAL. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare health-related quality of life in relation to symptoms and target-organ damage. The Kruskal-Wallis test and ANOVA with ranks transformation were used to compare health-related quality of life in relation to the classification of risk for cardiovascular events and intensity of dyspnea, respectively. Results: The MINICHAL was able to discriminate health-related quality of life in relation to symptoms and kidney damage, but did not discriminate health-related quality of life in relation to the classification of risk for cardiovascular events. Conclusion: The Brazilian version of the MINICHAL is a questionnaire capable of discriminating differences on the health‑related quality of life regarding dyspnea, chest pain, palpitation, lipothymy, cephalea and renal damage.Fundamento: No cuidado ao hipertenso, é importante que o profissional de saúde disponha de ferramentas que possibilitem avaliar o comprometimento da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde, de acordo com a gravidade da hipertensão e o risco para eventos cardiovasculares. Dentre os instrumentos criados para avaliação da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde, destaca-se o Mini-Cuestionario de Calidad de Vida en la Hipertensión Arterial (MINICHAL), recentemente adaptado para a cultura brasileira. Objetivo: Estimar a validade de grupos conhecidos da versão brasileira do MINICHAL em relação à classificação de risco para eventos cardiovasculares, sintomas, intensidade da dispneia e lesões de órgãos-alvo. Métodos: Foram investigados 200 hipertensos em seguimento ambulatorial, cujos dados sociodemográficos, clínicos e de qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde foram obtidos por meio de consulta ao prontuário e da aplicação da versão brasileira do MINICHAL. O teste de Mann-Whitney foi utilizado para comparar qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em relação aos sintomas e às lesões de órgãos-alvo. Teste de Kruskal-Wallis e ANOVA com transformação nos ranks foram empregados para comparar qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em relação à classificação de risco para eventos cardiovasculares e intensidade da dispneia, respectivamente. Resultados: O MINICHAL discriminou qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em relação aos sintomas e dano renal (lesões de órgãos-alvo), porém não discriminou qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em relação à classificação de risco para eventos cardiovasculares. Conclusão: A versão brasileira do MINICHAL é um instrumento capaz de discriminar diferenças na qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em relação aos sintomas de dispneia, precordialgia, palpitação, lipotímia, cefaleia e presença de dano renal.

Quality of sugarcane in productive process of ethanol evaluated by INAA

Soil as an impurity in sugarcane is a serious problem for the ethanol industry, increasing production and maintenance costs and reducing the productivity. Fe, Hf, Sc and Th determined by INAA were used as tracers to assess the amount of soil in sugarcane from truckloads as well as in the juice extraction process. Quality control tools were applied to results identifying the need for stratification according to soil type and moisture. Soil levels of truckloads had high variability indicating potential for improving cut and loading operations. Samples from the juice extraction process allowed tracking the soil in the mill tandem.

Research Quality, Publications and Impact in Hydraulic Engineering into the 21st Century. Publish or Perish, Commercial versus Open Access, Internet versus Libraries

One of the main objectives of the first International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures is to provide an opportunity for young researchers and engineers to present their research. But a research project is only completed when it has been published and shared with the community. Referees and peer experts play an important role to control the research quality. While some new electronic tools provide further means to disseminate some research information, the quality and impact of the works remain linked with some thorough expert-review process and the publications in international scientific journals and books. Importantly unethical publishing standards are not acceptable and cheating is despicable.

Avaliação e a Qualidade das Práticas de Inclusão para Alunos com PEA: Escala LAQI (Louisiana Autism Quality Indicators)

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção de grau de mestre em Educação Especial, domínio Cognição e Multideficiência

Optimization of River Water Quality Surveys by Multivariate Analysis of Physicochemical, Bacteriological and Ecotoxicological Data

This study aims to optimize the water quality monitoring of a polluted watercourse (Leça River, Portugal) through the principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA). These statistical methodologies were applied to physicochemical, bacteriological and ecotoxicological data (with the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri and the green alga Chlorella vulgaris) obtained with the analysis of water samples monthly collected at seven monitoring sites and during five campaigns (February, May, June, August, and September 2006). The results of some variables were assigned to water quality classes according to national guidelines. Chemical and bacteriological quality data led to classify Leça River water quality as “bad” or “very bad”. PCA and CA identified monitoring sites with similar pollution pattern, giving to site 1 (located in the upstream stretch of the river) a distinct feature from all other sampling sites downstream. Ecotoxicity results corroborated this classification thus revealing differences in space and time. The present study includes not only physical, chemical and bacteriological but also ecotoxicological parameters, which broadens new perspectives in river water characterization. Moreover, the application of PCA and CA is very useful to optimize water quality monitoring networks, defining the minimum number of sites and their location. Thus, these tools can support appropriate management decisions.

Lean and quality management integration: improvement program implementation in a service company

Lean Thinking is an important pillar in the success of any program of continuous improvement process. Its tools are useful means in the analysis, control and organization of important data for correct decision making in organizations. This project had as main objective the design of a program of quality improvement in Eurico Ferreira, S.A., based on the evaluation of customer satisfaction and the implementation of 5S. Subsequently, we have selected which business area of the company to address. After the selection, there was an initial diagnostic procedure, identifying the various points of improvement to which some tools of Lean Thinking have been applied, in particular Value Stream Mapping and 5S methodology. With the first, we were able to map the current state of the process in which all stakeholders were represented as well as the flow of materials and information throughout the process. The 5S methodology allowed to act on the wastage, identifying and implementing various process improvements.

Quality of process modeling using BPMN: a model-driven approach

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Informática

Algorithms and tools for in silico design of cell factories

PhD thesis in Bioengineering

Improvign mixing processes with the help of numerical tools

In several industrial applications, highly complex behaviour materials are used together with intricate mixing processes, which difficult the achievement of the desired properties for the produced materials. This is the case of the well-known dispersion of nano-sized fillers in a melt polymer matrix, used to improve the nanocomposite mechanical and/or electrical properties. This mixing is usually performed in twin-screw extruders, that promote complex flow patterns, and, since an in loco analysis of the material evolution and mixing is difficult to perform, numerical tools can be very useful to predict the evolution and behaviour of the material. This work presents a numerical based study to improve the understanding of mixing processes. Initial numerical studies were performed with generalized Newtonian fluids, but, due to the null relaxation time that characterize this type of fluids, the assumption of viscoelastic behavior was required. Therefore, the polymer melt was rheologically characterized, and, a six mode Phan-Thien-Tanner and Giesekus models were used to fit the rheological data. These viscoelastic rheological models were used to model the process. The conclusions obtained in this work provide additional and useful data to correlate the type and intensity of the deformation history promoted to the polymer nanocomposite and the quality of the mixing obtained.