Relationship between sport commitment and sport consumer behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between sport commitment and three types of sport consumer behaviors: participation frequency, sporting goods and media consumption. A survey was conducted among sport participants of both individual and team sports, fitness and outdoor activities (n= 900). The survey included questions related to demographic information, measures of sport commitment and sport consumption behavior. The results analyzed trough structural equation modeling showed that the sport commitment influences positively the participation frequency, sporting goods consumption and media consumption. Implications of these results are discussed and suggestions for future research on sport consumers are provided.

Coaching or gaming? Implications of strategy choice for home based stroke rehabilitation

Background: The enduring aging of the world population and prospective increase of age-related chronic diseases urge the implementation of new models for healthcare delivery. One strategy relies on ICT (Information and Communications Technology) home-based solutions allowing clients to pursue their treatments without institutionalization. Stroke survivors are a particular population that could strongly benefit from such solutions, but is not yet clear what the best approach is for bringing forth an adequate and sustainable usage of home-based rehabilitation systems. Here we explore two possible approaches: coaching and gaming. Methods: We performed trials with 20 healthy participants and 5 chronic stroke survivors to study and compare execution of an elbow flexion and extension task when performed within a coaching mode that provides encouragement or within a gaming mode. For each mode we analyzed compliance, arm movement kinematics and task scores. In addition, we assessed the usability and acceptance of the proposed modes through a customized self-report questionnaire. Results: In the healthy participants sample, 13/20 preferred the gaming mode and rated it as being significantly more fun (p < .05), but the feedback delivered by the coaching mode was subjectively perceived as being more useful (p < .01). In addition, the activity level (number of repetitions and total movement of the end effector) was significantly higher (p <.001) during coaching. However, the quality of movements was superior in gaming with a trend towards shorter movement duration (p=.074), significantly shorter travel distance (p <.001), higher movement efficiency (p <.001) and higher performance scores (p <.001). Stroke survivors also showed a trend towards higher activity levels in coaching, but with more movement quality during gaming. Finally, both training modes showed overall high acceptance. Conclusions: Gaming led to higher enjoyment and increased quality in movement execution in healthy participants. However, we observed that game mechanics strongly determined user behavior and limited activity levels. In contrast, coaching generated higher activity levels. Hence, the purpose of treatment and profile of end-users has to be considered when deciding on the most adequate approach for home based stroke rehabilitation.

Avalia����o do comportamento din��mico da torre sineira da S�� Catedral do Funchal

O objetivo principal deste trabalho consiste na caracteriza����o din��mica da Torre Sineira da S�� Catedral do Funchal. Esta caracteriza����o tem como base o recurso a t��cnicas de an��lise experimental, e em simult��neo, a simula����es num��ricas. As t��cnicas experimentais utilizadas baseiam-se na utiliza����o de metodologias de identifica����o din��mica com base em medi����es da resposta estrutural provocada pela excita����o ambiente, i.e. vento e tr��fego. A campanha de ensaios foi realizada em cinco s��ries de medi����o com aceler��metros piezoel��tricos de alta sensibilidade e recorrendo a equipamento de aquisi����o de dados de alto desempenho. Ao longo do trabalho s��o descritas as principais caracter��sticas dos ensaios, bem como os resultados obtidos recorrendo a t��cnicas de an��lise modal operacional, culminando na obten����o dos par��metros modais dos principais modos de vibra����o da estrutura. Ap��s o tratamento dos resultados obtidos experimentalmente, estes foram usados para calibrar um modelo num��rico implementado num software comercial de elementos finitos. Este modelo tem como base t��cnicas de modela����o correntemente utilizadas na simula����o deste tipo de estruturas, bem como par��metros plaus��veis para definir o comportamento mec��nico dos materiais. Posteriormente, os resultados obtidos em ambas as abordagens s��o diretamente comparados, tendo sido poss��vel observar uma boa correspond��ncia entre ambos. Esta disserta����o termina com as principais conclus��es e com a identifica����o dos principais desenvolvimentos para trabalhos futuros.

Lean e sua aplicabilidade na ind��stria da constru����o

Nos tempos que correm a gest��o de topo das empresas tem como desafio adaptar-se ��s exig��ncias do mercado, tendo em conta a crise atravessada nos diversos setores. O lean mais do que uma ferramenta, �� uma filosofia de vida que visa a excel��ncia. Esta filosofia cont��m dois pilares importantes, a melhoria cont��nua e o respeito pelas pessoas. A melhoria cont��nua pretendida visa a obten����o do valor esperado e definido perante um desafio. O lean �� uma filosofia de gest��o que nasce ap��s a segunda guerra mundial caracterizado como sistema de produ����o enxuto que visa elimina����o de desperd��cios. Algumas empresas do setor da constru����o ap��s verificar os resultados satisfat��rios noutras ��reas, impuseram a implementa����o da filosofia lean nas suas organiza����es. Esta implementa����o passa por adotar ferramentas que visam a elimina����o de desperd��cios, produ����o puxada e a flexibilidade de processos. A constru����o adotou ferramentas tais como: just in time, defini����o de valor, defini����o de desperd��cio, fluxo cont��nuo, task time, sistema puxado, poka-yoke, kanban, heijunka (nivelamento de produ����o), seis sigmas, last planner, kaizen, fluxo de valor, 5S`s. A presente tese pretende clarificar algumas destas ferramentas e conceitos, aproximando-os da ��rea da constru����o. Inclui-se um question��rio a um grupo de trabalhadores de uma empresa de constru����o que est�� na fase inicial de implementa����o do lean. O question��rio visou entender em que fase se encontra a implementa����o e a import��ncia dada ao tema pelos trabalhadores. Foram analisados alguns casos pr��ticos onde a gest��o da empresa decidiu implementar o lean.

Caracteriza����o t��rmica de tubos de explora����es petrol��feras em ��guas profundas

Este trabalho foi realizado devido aos novos desafios existentes na ��rea petrol��fera, pois tem-se verificado novas necessidades na transfer��ncia de calor em tubagens em ��guas profundas. Com estes novos cen��rios de produ����o em ��guas profundas, existe a preocupa����o de garantir o escoamento do produto evitando cen��rios de obstru����o nas tubagens. Os principais problemas aquando da explora����o petrol��fera prendem-se com a ocorr��ncia de parafinas nas paredes dos tubos bem como a forma����o de hidratos. �� descrito neste trabalho as solu����es existentes para a transfer��ncia do produto e compara����o das mesmas. Numa segunda fase �� realizado um modelo matem��tico para an��lise t��rmica das tubagens comparando os materiais isolantes propostos, afim de garantir a temperatura m��nima do fluido circulante. De salientar que houve a preocupa����o de ter em conta uma paragem na explora����o do petr��leo, por motivos de manuten����o por exemplo, e garantir dessa maneira a temperatura m��nima do mesmo. Este trabalho prop��e solu����es de isolamento t��rmico e discute todos os desafios e problemas existentes.

Building a network Operations Center (NOC) solution

Esta disserta����o contextualiza e descreve a actividade pr��tica do quotidiano de um gestor de redes inform��ticas modernas. Define Network Operations Center (NOC) e a sua import��ncia como provedor de servi��os de Internet, e aborda a gest��o de redes como alicerce te��rico mediante a tomada de decis��es que a tarefa de gest��o coloca. �� com base na complexidade da tarefa de gest��o que surge a necessidade e o aparecimento consequente de Plataformas de Gest��o. Estas plataformas n��o s�� auxiliam na tarefa para a qual foram desenvolvidas como substituem todo um conjunto de ferramentas tradicionais, limitadas para a realidade das infraestruturas de telecomunica����es actuais. O estudo do NOC da NOS Madeira enfatiza a problem��tica que as infra-estruturas de m��dia e grande dimens��o comportam para os gestores de redes que l�� operam. As limita����es da plataforma de gest��o em uso referentes �� defini����o e organiza����o de utilizadores, dispositivos e grupos respectivos, conjuntamente com a falta de parametriza����o em notifica����es justificam uma solu����o. Aqui, �� feita uma an��lise e um levantamento de requisitos para a selec����o da nova plataforma de gest��o seguida da proposta de uma solu����o integrada para resolu����o do problema. Esta proposta envolve a defini����o de uma arquitectura, o desenho e a implementa����o de software pr��prios para um sistema particular ao qual designamos: ZenDash.

OpenDataHub: an open dataset management system

This thesis presents a cloud-based software platform for sharing publicly available scientific datasets. The proposed platform leverages the potential of NoSQL databases and asynchronous IO technologies, such as Node.JS, in order to achieve high performances and flexible solutions. This solution will serve two main groups of users. The dataset providers, which are the researchers responsible for sharing and maintaining datasets, and the dataset users, that are those who desire to access the public data. To the former are given tools to easily publish and maintain large volumes of data, whereas the later are given tools to enable the preview and creation of subsets of the original data through the introduction of filter and aggregation operations. The choice of NoSQL over more traditional RDDMS emerged from and extended benchmark between relational databases (MySQL) and NoSQL (MongoDB) that is also presented in this thesis. The obtained results come to confirm the theoretical guarantees that NoSQL databases are more suitable for the kind of data that our system users will be handling, i. e., non-homogeneous data structures that can grow really fast. It is envisioned that a platform like this can lead the way to a new era of scientific data sharing where researchers are able to easily share and access all kinds of datasets, and even in more advanced scenarios be presented with recommended datasets and already existing research results on top of those recommendations.

A virtual agent to sustaining children's engagement in language learning

In this thesis we aimed to explore the potential of gamification - defined as ���the use of game elements in non-game contexts��� [30] - in increasing children's (aged 5 to 6) engagement with the task. This is mainly due to the fact that our world is living a technological era, and videogames are an example of this engagement by being able to maintain children���s (and adults) engagement for hours straight. For the purpose of limiting complexity, we only addressed the feedback element by introducing it with an anthropomorphic virtual agent (human-like aspect), because research shows that virtual agents (VA���s) can influence behavioural change [17], or even induce emotions on humans both through the use of feedback provided and their facial expressions, which can interpreted in the same way as of humans��� [2]. By pairing the VA with the gamification concept, we wanted to 1) create a VA that is likely to be well-received by children (appearance and behaviour), and 2) have the immediate feedback that games have, so we can give children an assessment of their actions in real-time, as opposed to waiting for feedback from someone (traditional teaching), and with this give students more chances to succeed [32, 43]. Our final system consisted on a virtual environment, where children formed words that corresponded to a given image. In order to measure the impact that the VA had on engagement, the system was developed in two versions: one version of the system was limited to provide a simple feedback environment, where the VA provided feedback, by responding with simple phrases (i.e. ���correct��� or ���incorrect���); for the second version, the VA had a more complex approach where it tried to encourage children to complete the word ��� a motivational feedback - even when they weren���t succeeding. Lastly we conducted a field study with two groups of children, where one group tested the version with the simple feedback, and the other group tested the ���motivational��� version of the system. We used a quantitative approach to analyze the collected data that measured the engagement, based on the number of tasks (words) completed and time spent with system. The results of the evaluation showed that the use of motivational feedback may carry a positive effect on engaging children.

Motivating the use of public transit through a mobile glanceable display

With increasing concerns about the impact of global warming on human life, policy makers around the world and researchers have sought for technological solutions that have the potential to attenuate this process. This thesis describes the design and evaluation of an information appliance that aims to increase the use of public transportation. We developed a mobile glanceable display that, being aware of the user���s transportation routines, provides awareness cues about bus arrival time, grounded upon the vision of Ambient Intelligence. We present the design process we followed, from ideation to building a prototype and conducting a field study, and conclude with a set of guidelines for the design of relevant personal information systems. More specifically we seek to test the following hypotheses: 1) That the tangible prototype that provides ambient cues will be used more frequently than a similar purpose mobile app, 2) That the tangible prototype will reduce the waiting time at the bus stop, 3) That the tangible prototype will result to reduced anxiety on passengers, 4) That the tangible prototype will result to an increase in the perceived reliability of the transit service, 5) That the tangible prototype will enhance users��� efficiency in reading the bus schedules and 6) That the tangible prototype will make individuals more likely to use public transit. In a field study, we compare the tangible prototype against the mobile app and a control condition where participants were given no external support in obtaining bus arrival information, other than their existing routines. Using qualitative and quantitative data, we test the aforementioned hypotheses and explore users��� reactions to the prototype we developed.

Modelos para acontecimentos m��ltiplos

Ao longo dos u��ltimos anos tem existido um interesse crescente em estudar o tempo at��e `a ocorr��encia de va��rios acontecimentos, os quais podem ser observados mais do que uma vez para um mesmo indiv����duo. Os dados respeitantes a acontecimentos mu��ltiplos t��em como principal caracter����stica o facto de se registar mais do que um tempo de vida para cada indiv����duo, o que inviabiliza a aplica��ca��o direta do modelo de regress��ao de Cox. Assim, surgiu a necessidade de desenvolver novas extenso��es deste modelo, sendo que as mais utilizadas na pra��tica foram sugeridas por: Prentice, Williams e Peterson (PWP); Andersen e Gill (AG); Wei, Lin e Weissfeld (WLW); e Lee, Wei e Amato (LWA). Um dos maiores obst��aculos na aplicac����ao destes modelos ��e a forte possibilidade de existir correla��c��ao intraindiv����duos. Neste ponto, os quatro modelos referidos anteriormente sa��o classi���cados como modelos marginais, uma vez que o vetor de para��metros de regress��ao ��e estimado com base no ajustamento de um modelo que ignora a correla��ca��o entre acontecimentos. Para compensar esse facto, nestes modelos ��e usado um estimador robusto da matriz de covari��ancia, o qual permite efetuar a correc����ao necessa��ria na estimativa da varia��ncia usual. Apo��s realizar uma descric����ao detalhada de cada modelo marginal procedeu-se a` respetiva implementa��c��ao atrav��es do software estat����stico R. Para o efeito, recorreu-se a` simula��ca��o de dados relativos a acontecimentos mu��ltiplos do mesma natureza, isto ��e, a acontecimentos recorrentes. Os resultados obtidos permitiram real��car e con���rmar as caracter����sticas dos modelos estudados.

A classe de distribui����es de Panjer e a modela����o do risco coletivo

O principal objetivo desta disserta����o �� analisar a classe de distribui����es de Panjer, algumas das suas extens��es e a utiliza����o destas na modela����o do risco coletivo. Inicialmente, s��o referidos alguns momentos hist��ricos importantes no estudo da fam��lia de distribui����es de Panjer e no desenvolvimento do modelo do risco coletivo. Apresentamos tamb��m alguns artigos publicados nos ��ltimos vinte anos sobre estas tem��ticas. Depois, s��o apresentados os conceitos e instrumentos fundamentais na constru����o das extens��es da fam��lia de Panjer e na constru����o recursiva das distribui����es do modelo do risco coletivo. Tais conceitos e instrumentos incluem a fun����o geradora de probabilidades, a transformada de Laplace, a mistura e modi ca����o de distribui����es de probabilidade. Seguidamente, s��o caracterizadas as distribui����es discretas pertencentes �� classe de Panjer, distribui����es essas denominadas de distribui����es de contagem b��sicas, de nidas a recurs��o de Panjer e duas suas extens��es e apresentadas as distribui����es pertencentes a cada uma delas. Finalmente, �� apresentado o modelo do risco coletivo, designadamente o modelo composto das indemniza����es agregadas, cujas distribui����es, neste caso, s��o constru��das atrav��s do m��todo recursivo. S��o tamb��m expostos dois m��todos de constru����o de distribui����es aritm��ticas. A disserta����o termina com a dedu����o de alguns modelos particulares para o risco coletivo, obtidos com o aux��lio dos programas inform��ticos Mathematica e R.

Avalia����o de nova estrat��gia extrativa, baseada em NTDs, combinada com dados de an��lise cromatigr��fica e quimiom��trica para a dete����o de biomarcadores de diferentes tipos de cancro

A elevada incid��ncia e mortalidade mundiais associadas ao cancro justificam o desenvolvimento e implementa����o de estrat��gias eficazes e n��o-invasivas conducentes a um diagn��stico precoce. Neste contexto, pretendeu-se avaliar a performance de uma metodologia inovadora, a microextra����o por ���needle trap��� (NTME), na extra����o de metabolitos vol��teis (VOMs) da urina de pacientes oncol��gicos com diferentes tipos de cancro - c��lon, pulm��o e mama, e de indiv��duos saud��veis, com a finalidade de identificar um conjunto de VOMs potenciais biomarcadores dos diferentes tipos cancros em estudo. De modo a maximizar a efici��ncia da extra����o dos VOMs, foram otimizados diferentes par��metros experimentais, nomeadamente a natureza do sorvente, a temperatura, o tempo de equil��brio, o volume de headspace, a for��a i��nica, o pH do meio e o volume e a agita����o da amostra. Usando como sorvente o DVB/Car1000/CarX, os melhores resultados foram obtidos com 4 mL de urina acidificada (pH= 2), 20% NaCl, 40 mL de headspace e 40 min de equil��brio a 50 ��C. Foi ainda avaliada a estabilidade dos VOMs no sorvente at�� 72 h ap��s a extra����o. Nos quatro grupos em estudo foram identificados, por GC-MS, 259 VOMs pertencentes a diversas fam��lias qu��micas, nomeadamente cetonas, compostos sulfurados, fur��nicos e terp��nicos. A matriz de dados obtida para cada grupo em estudo foi submetida a an��lise discriminante, usando o m��todo dos m��nimos quadrados parciais (PLS-DA), que resultou em clusters distintos diferenciadores de cada grupo. A aplicabilidade do modelo foi avaliada atrav��s do m��todo de classifica����o SIMCA (modelagem suave e independente de analogias de classe), com elevadas taxas de classifica����o, sensibilidade e especificidade. Este foi o primeiro estudo usando NTME para o estabelecimento do padr��o volat��mico da urina. Os resultados obtidos revelam-se muito promissores originando perfis vol��teis de maior expressividade, mais completos e abrangentes, que os obtidos usando metodologias de refer��ncia.

Energy harvesting from hydroelectric systems for remote sensors

Hydroelectric systems are well-known for large scale power generation. However, there are virtually no studies on energy harvesting with these systems to produce tens or hundreds of milliwatts. The goal of this work was to study which design parameters from large-scale systems can be applied to small-scale systems. Two types of hydro turbines were evaluated. The first one was a Pelton turbine which is suitable for high heads and low flow rates. The second one was a propeller turbine used for low heads and high flow rates. Several turbine geometries and nozzle diameters were tested for the Pelton system. For the propeller, a three-bladed turbine was tested for different heads and draft tubes. The mechanical power provided by these turbines was measured to evaluate the range of efficiencies of these systems. A small three-phase generator was developed for coupling with the turbines in order to evaluate the generated electric power. Selected turbines were used to test battery charging with hydroelectric systems and a comparison between several efficiencies of the systems was made. Keywords

Relationship between sport commitment and sport consumer behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between sport commitment and three types of sport consumer behaviors: participation frequency, sporting goods and media consumption. A survey was conducted among sport participants of both individual and team sports, fitness and outdoor activities (n= 900). The survey included questions related to demographic information, measures of sport commitment and sport consumption behavior. The results analyzed trough structural equation modeling showed that the sport commitment influences positively the participation frequency, sporting goods consumption and media consumption. Implications of these results are discussed and suggestions for future research on sport consumers are provided.

Coaching or gaming? Implications of strategy choice for home based stroke rehabilitation

Background: The enduring aging of the world population and prospective increase of age-related chronic diseases urge the implementation of new models for healthcare delivery. One strategy relies on ICT (Information and Communications Technology) home-based solutions allowing clients to pursue their treatments without institutionalization. Stroke survivors are a particular population that could strongly benefit from such solutions, but is not yet clear what the best approach is for bringing forth an adequate and sustainable usage of home-based rehabilitation systems. Here we explore two possible approaches: coaching and gaming. Methods: We performed trials with 20 healthy participants and 5 chronic stroke survivors to study and compare execution of an elbow flexion and extension task when performed within a coaching mode that provides encouragement or within a gaming mode. For each mode we analyzed compliance, arm movement kinematics and task scores. In addition, we assessed the usability and acceptance of the proposed modes through a customized self-report questionnaire. Results: In the healthy participants sample, 13/20 preferred the gaming mode and rated it as being significantly more fun (p < .05), but the feedback delivered by the coaching mode was subjectively perceived as being more useful (p < .01). In addition, the activity level (number of repetitions and total movement of the end effector) was significantly higher (p <.001) during coaching. However, the quality of movements was superior in gaming with a trend towards shorter movement duration (p=.074), significantly shorter travel distance (p <.001), higher movement efficiency (p <.001) and higher performance scores (p <.001). Stroke survivors also showed a trend towards higher activity levels in coaching, but with more movement quality during gaming. Finally, both training modes showed overall high acceptance. Conclusions: Gaming led to higher enjoyment and increased quality in movement execution in healthy participants. However, we observed that game mechanics strongly determined user behavior and limited activity levels. In contrast, coaching generated higher activity levels. Hence, the purpose of treatment and profile of end-users has to be considered when deciding on the most adequate approach for home based stroke rehabilitation.