Controlo de qualidade e inspeção visual por imagem: definição de uma aplicação para registo de alterações e avaliação de desempenho

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia e Gestão da Qualidade

Analysis of exploratory eye movements in patients with schizophrenia during visual scanning of projective tests' figures

OBJECTIVE: Compare pattern of exploratory eye movements during visual scanning of the Rorschach and TAT test cards in people with schizophrenia and controls. METHOD: 10 participants with schizophrenia and 10 controls matched by age, schooling and intellectual level participated in the study. Severity of symptoms was evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Test cards were divided into three groups: TAT cards with scenes content, TAT cards with interaction content (TAT-faces), and Rorschach cards with abstract images. Eye movements were analyzed for: total number, duration and location of fixation; and length of saccadic movements. RESULTS: Different pattern of eye movement was found, with schizophrenia participants showing lower number of fixations but longer fixation duration in Rorschach cards and TAT-faces. The biggest difference was observed in Rorschach, followed by TAT-faces and TAT-scene cards. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest alteration in visual exploration mechanisms possibly related to integration of abstract visual information.

Revisão dos métodos empregados na avaliação da dimensão corporal em pacientes com transtornos alimentares

Objetivo: O presente artigo analisou os métodos de avaliação da percepção da dimensão corporal abordados na literatura científica. Método: Foram utilizadas a palavra-chave "body image" e a combinação desta com os termos "size perception" e "size estimation", nas bases de dados Medline, Bireme, EBSCO e SCOPUS, para o levantamento científico. O período considerado para essas buscas foi de 1975 a 2010. Resultados: Foram encontrados quatro métodos que avaliam e quantificam a percepção dimensional do corpo, aplicando-se um índice de percepção da dimensão corporal. Os métodos diferem em sua forma de execução, utilização de instrumentos, uso ou não de feedback visual por parte do avaliado, utilização de estímulo tátil ou não para gerar a resposta do avaliado. Conclusão: O Image Marking Procedure (IMP) mostrou-se apropriado para a avaliação da dimensão corporal nos distúrbios alimentares, pela possibilidade de avaliar o grau de distorção corporal e dos segmentos corporais específicos sem a interferência visual, cognitiva e qualquer referencial externo comparado aos outros testes que mostraram limitações quanto a esses aspectos. Sugere-se que ele seja utilizado em futuras pesquisas que avaliem o aspecto dimensional da percepção corporal.

Avaliação de vigas de madeira de Castanho tendo por base a classificação visual e ensaios não destrutivos

Dissertação de mestrado Internacional em Sustentabilidade do Ambiente Construído

Three-dimensional technology facilitates surgical performance of novice laparoscopy surgeons: a quantitative assessment on a porcine kidney model

Objective To determine whether the use of 3-dimensional (3D) imaging translates into a better surgical performance of naïve urologic laparoscopic surgeons during pyeloplasty (PY) and partial nephrectomy (PN) procedures. Materials and Methods Eighteen surgeons without any previous laparoscopic experience were randomly assigned to perform PY and PN in a porcine model using initially 2-dimensional (2D) and 3D laparoscopy. A surgical performance score was rated by an "expert" tutor through a modified 5-item global rating scale contemplating operative field view, bimanual dexterity, efficiency, tissue handling, and autonomy. Overall surgical time, complications, subjective perception of participating surgeons, and inconveniences related to the 3D vision were recorded. Results No difference in terms if operative time was found between 2D or 3D laparoscopy for both the PY (P =.51) and the PN (P =.28) procedures. A better rate in terms of surgical performance score was noted by the tutors when the study participants were using 3D vs 2D, for both PY (3.6 [0.8] vs 3.0 [0.4]; P =.034) and PN (3.6 [0.51] vs 3.15 [0.63]; P =.001). No complications occurred in any of the procedures. Most (77.2%) of the participating na??ve laparoscopic surgeons had the perception that 3D laparoscopy was overall easier than 2D. Headache (18.1%), nausea (18.1%), and visual disturbance (18.1%) were the most common issues reported by the surgeons during 3D procedures. Conclusion Despite the absence of translation in a shorter operative time, the use of 3D technology seems to facilitate the surgical performance of naive surgeons during laparoscopic kidney procedures on a porcine model.

Promoção da motivação e da autonomia com recurso às tecnologias de informação e comunicação em alunos normovisuais e em alunos com deficiência visual

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Ensino de Informática

Investigations on relational control of time perception

Tese de Doutoramento em Psicologia Básica

La carte postale et la représentation des espaces public et intime

La carte postale est un kaléidoscope de vues, d’ornements et de couleurs, qui consacre un tout petit espace au message. C’est à la photographie et aux procédés de reproduction photomécaniques que revient le mérite d’avoir industrialisé la production de la carte postale. Et ce sont les clichés de villes, avec leurs monuments et leurs paysages, qui confèrent à la carte postale son statut de moyen de communication de masse et qui lui concèdent une affinité avec l’industrie du tourisme. La carte postale s’est ainsi emparée de l’ambition photographique de reproduire le monde, s’alliant aux « besoins de l’exploration, des expéditions et des relevés topographiques » du médium photographique à ses débuts. Ayant comme point de départ la carte postale, notre objectif est de montrer les conséquences culturelles de la révolution optique, commencée au milieu du XIXe siècle, avec l’invention de l’appareil photo, et consumée dans la seconde moitié du XXe siècle, avec l’apparition de l’ordinateur. En effet, depuis l’apparition de l’appareil photographique et des cartes postales jusqu’au flux de pixels de Google Images et aux images satellite de Google Earth, un entrelacement de territoire, puissance et technique a été mis en oeuvre, la terre devenant, en conséquence, de plus en plus auscultée par les appareils de vision, ce qui impacte sur la perception de l’espace. Nous espérons pouvoir montrer avec cette étude que la lettre traditionnelle est à l’email ce que la carte postale est au post que l’on publie dans un blog ou dans des réseaux comme Facebook et Twitter. À notre sens, les cartes postales correspondent à l’ouverture maximale du système postal moderne, qui d’universel devient dépendant et partie intégrante des réseaux télématiques d’envoi. Par elles sont annoncés, en effet, la vitesse de transmission de l’information, la brièveté de la parole et l’hégémonie de la dimension imagétique du message, et pour finir, l’embarras provoqué par la fusion de l’espace public avec l’espace privé.

A comunicação online: a página Web como o BIO Empresarial: estratégias de comunicação visual e web design

Dissertação de mestrado em Ciências da Comunicação (área de especialização em Audiovisuais e Multimédia)

Reliability of the interpretation of coronary angiography by the simple visual method

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of inter and intraobserver reproducibility of by the visual method interpretation of cineangiogram in a clinically based context. METHODS: Five interventional cardiologists analyzed 11 segments of 8 coronary cineangiograms at a two month apart sessions. The percent luminal reduction by the lesions were analyzed by two different classifications: in one (A) the lesions were graded in 0% = absent, 1-50% = mild, 51 - 69 = moderate, and > or = 70% = severe; the other classification (B) was a dichotomic one : <70% = nonsignificant and > or = 70%=significant lesions. The agreement were measured by the kappa (k) index. RESULTS: Interobserver agreement was moderate for classification A (1st measurement, k = 0.36 -- 0.63, k m = 0.49; 2nd measurement, k = 0.39-0.68, k m = 0.52) and good for classification B (1st measurement, k = 0.55-0.73, k m = 0.63; 2nd measurement, k = 0.37-0.82, k m = 0.61). Intraobserver levels of agreement were k = 0.57-0.95 for classification A and 0.62-1.0 for classification B. CONCLUSION: The higher level of reproducibility obtained by adopting the dichotomous criteria usually considered for ischemic limits demonstrates that in the present clinical context, the reliability of the simple visual method is adequate for the identification of patients with clinically significant lesions and candidates for myocardial revascularization procedures.

Mother's anxiety and depression during the third pregnancy trimester and neonate's mother versus stranger's face/voice visual preference

Background: Neonates show visual preference for their mother's face/voice and shift their attention from their mother to a stranger's face/voice after habituation. Aim: To assess neonate's mother versus stranger's face/voice visual preference, namely mother's anxiety and depression during the third pregnancy trimester and neonate's: 1) visual preference for the mother versus the stranger's face/voice (pretest visual preference), 2) habituation to the mother's face/voice and 3) visual preference for the stranger versus the mother's face/voice (posttest visual preference). Method: Mothers (N=100) filled out the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the State Anxiety Inventory (STAI) both at the third pregnancy trimester and childbirth, and the “preference and habituation to the mother's face/voice versus stranger” paradigm was administered to their newborn 1 to 5 days after childbirth. Results: Neonates of anxious/depressed mothers during the third pregnancy trimester contrarily to neonates of non-anxious/non-depressed mothers did not look 1) longer at their mother's than at the stranger's face/voice at the pretest visual preference (showing no visual preference for the mother), nor 2) longer at the stranger's face/voice in the posttest than in the pretest visual preference (not improving their attention to the stranger's after habituation). Conclusion: Infants exposed to mother's anxiety/depression at the third gestational trimester exhibit less perceptual/social competencies at birth.

O autorretrato em literatura: ilustração e ruína

A aplicação ao caso literário do termo e do conceito de retrato, aqui incluindo a espécie mais tardia do autorretrato, não é hoje fluente, apesar da reconhecida permeabilidade do género a inúmeras linguagens artísticas e apesar de uma longa tradição de descrições de figura – particularmente no que toca a representação poético-retórica da beleza feminina – que recua à poesia clássica. Partindo de uma possível distinção entre autorretrato literário e variantes várias de escritas intimistas e autobiográficas com as quais delineia fronteiras nem sempre rigorosamente nítidas, é nosso propósito ilustrar, recorrendo a casos selecionados, modos de concretização verbal de autorretrato que se distanciam progressivamente de um paradigma representativo fundado na perceção e na semelhança, aproximando-se ao contrário de registos de rasura, apagamento, ruína, cegueira que questionam uma noção de identidade estabilizável em imagem (visual ou mental), encaminhando o gesto autorrepresentativo para uma meditação sobre a diferença e sobre o irreconhecimento; no limite, para uma condição fora do visível e porventura, arriscando os seus mais básicos pressupostos, para lá da representação.

Self-perception and dissatisfaction with weight does not depend on the frequency of physical activity

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the level of satisfaction with body weight and the self-perception of the weight/height ratio and to verify the influence of the frequency of present and past physical activity on these variables. METHODS: Using questionnaires or interviews, we obtained height data, reported and desired weight, self-perception of the weight/height ratio, and the frequency of current physical activity in 844 adults (489 women). Of these, evaluated the frequency of physical activity during high school of 193 individuals,and we measured their height and weight. RESULTS: Less than 2/3 of the individuals had body mass index between 20 and 24.9 kg/m2. A tendency existed to overestimate height by less than 1 cm and to underestimate weight by less than 1kg. Desired weight was less than that reported (p<0.001), and only 20% were satisfied with their current weight. Only 42% of men and 25% of women exercised regularly. No association was found between the frequency of physical activity and the variables height, weight, and body mass index, and the level of satisfaction with current weight. CONCLUSION: Height and weight reported seem to be valid for epidemological studies, and great dissatisfaction with body weight and a distorted self-perception of height/weight ratio exists, especially in women, regardless of the frequency of physical activity.

Quantificação da massa infartada do ventrículo esquerdo pela ressonância magnética cardíaca: comparação entre a planimetria e o método de escore visual semi-quantitativo

OBJETIVO: Validar um novo método de escore visual semi-quantitativo contra a planimetria digital quantitativa para a determinação da massa infartada do ventrículo esquerdo pela ressonância magnética cardíaca com técnica de realce tardio. MÉTODO: Estudados 77 pacientes com infarto miocárdico prévio em aparelho de ressonância magnética de 1,5T utilizando técnica de realce tardio para avaliação da viabilidade miocárdica e cálculo da massa infartada. Para avaliação da função ventricular esquerda pelo método de Simpson utilizamos técnica de cine-ressonância. O cálculo da massa infartada foi realizado nas imagens de realce tardio de duas formas: planimetria e método de escore. Utilizamos métodos de regressão linear simples, correlação e concordância entre métodos e observadores segundo a análise de Bland-Altman. RESULTADOS: Em todos os 77 pacientes as áreas de infarto foram detectadas pela ressonância magnética cardíaca utilizando a técnica de realce tardio. O tamanho do infarto medido pela planimetria foi semelhante ao obtido pelo método de escore, com a média das diferenças entres as medidas de apenas 1,03% da massa do ventrículo esquerdo. As variabilidades inter (0,41%) e intra-observador (0,34%) evidenciaram excelente reprodutibilidade do método de escore. A massa infartada apresentou boa correlação com a fração de ejeção e volumes distólico e sistólico finais indexados, r=-0,76, r=0,63 e r=0,67, respectivamente. CONCLUSÃO: A avaliação de pacientes com infarto agudo do miocárdio prévio pela ressonância magnética cardíaca, utilizando a técnica de realce tardio, permite a determinação reprodutível do tamanho do infarto, tanto pelo método de planimetria, quanto pelo modelo semi-quantitativo de escore.

An Investigation into Irish State patronage of the visual arts.

The focus of this research is in ascertaining how and why the Irish state patronises the visual arts. The framework that the state puts in place for the support of the arts influences the creation of art. The initial standpoint from which to evaluate the system is founded on the belief that art is of social good. The second source of belief is in the necessity for an autonomous setting in which it can be created. These two beliefs underpin state patronage of the arts in contemporary society. Therefore they have to be examined carefully in order to see if they hold up. This requires an investigation into the formation of value. This is undertaken by looking into the social development of western society and its influence on the placement of arts value. Establishing how arts value to society is defined provides a means by which to investigate the manner in which the state patronises the visual arts. Two case studies provide the evidence in how the state supports the arts and why it chooses to do so. The Irish Museum of Modem Art is used as an example of the state’s role in the maintenance of the canon of art. The second case study looks at the work being done by Breaking Ground. Breaking Ground is an extensive art project as an element of the regeneration process happening in Ballymun funded by the state. It provides and insight into how the state utilises art in the unification of a social group.