Description of an integrated e-health monitoring system in a Portuguese higher education institution: the e.cuidHaMUstm program

Background: The World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization recognize that workplace health is not only affected by occupational hazards, but is mainly affected by social determinants and individual factors. An accelerated rise in noncommunicable diseases has fostered the importance of creating supportive environments and encouraging healthy behaviours. Therefore, an operational approach to making workplaces healthy and sustainable is needed. This paper describes the development of an e-Health monitoring program entitled ‘Integrated eHealth Monitoring System for Health Management in Universities’ (e.cuidHaMUsTM) as a possible solution to that operational approach. Methods: We developed the program e.cuidHaMUsTM that proposes to detect risk behaviours related to noncommunicable diseases and to implement problem-solving measures by establishing a healthpromoting workspace in a Portuguese higher education institution. Based on the ‘I-Change’ conceptual model, our program provides personalized feedback; improves health-related knowledge, attitude and good practices; and encourages actions to promote healthy lifestyles through individual health capacitation. Focusing on evaluation as an activity that generates knowledge, the e.cuidHaMUsTM program aggregates all the relevant health information, shares the results with decision-makers and evaluates health-related policy changes in the workplace. Discussion: This paper presents the design of the e.cuidHaMUsTM program, the development of an eHealth web platform to share information between the different stakeholders, and a questionnaire to evaluate the health status of higher education institution workers (e.cuidHaMUs.QueST®). Also, the procedures for data collection and analysis are outlined. The e.cuidHaMUsTM program can enhance health surveillance through cross-sectional and longitudinal studies and provide scientific evidence to support the envisioned interventions and promotions of healthy lifestyles. This program is an effort to incorporate a holistic culture of health-promoting workspace in higher education institution policies.publishe

eABC: scientific publications bibliografic archive

The paper intends to present eABC – Scientific Publications Bibliographic Archive of University of Aveiro’. It describes the motivation that induced its implementation, advantages for users and for all those whom the system serves. Some of the systems functionalities will be presented, along with a description on how to use them. Finally, the current status of the system - as it is being used by the University of Aveiro - will be presented, with the addition of an explanation on how this system helps in the creation of mechanisms that enable the adaptability and flexibility of systems to improve the scientific community dynamics

Evaluation of the Research Protocol by Ethical Committee

Nowadays, the submission of a research project to an ethical committee and its approval is mandatory. However, researchers often overlook this obligation, because they are too engaged in the design and the process of construction of the study, because of the common tight deadlines, and many times because some devaluation of the role of the committee. Based on our experience of 10 years working in an ethical committee, we propose a way to get close researchers and evaluators, respecting their own aims but bringing them together as partners in the investigation process, protecting patients’ values, at the same time that makes it possible to implement strategies to answer to the research question and to create useful knowledge. Our aim is to smoothen the way researchers look to the ethical committee and, at the same time, to make them understand what really is at stake. Ethics should be a commitment for all and not an obligation

Defining a conceptual framework for a toolkit to game design: the Gamers4Nature project

Seeking to capitalize the interest of younger audiences in game creation activities, the Gamers4Nature project aims to develop a toolkit designed to support game design by allowing the manipulation of the several elements that compose a game. Prior to the toolkit’s development, there was the need to establish the respective conceptual framework. This paper describes the process of defining the project’s conceptual framework. Based on Fullerton’s perspective on game design, the framework was defined following a participatory design approach with the participation of different stakeholders (postgraduate students with extensive knowledge about game design and experts in the game design field). To ease the discussion sessions, a physical artifact (19 hexagonal pieces, and a honeycomb structured board) was developed. Results suggest that a non-linear approach to game design may promote not only the definition of the game’s structure and gameplay but also allow a contextualised analysis of all its elements.publishe

Factors associated with cardiovascular disease risk among employees at a portuguese higher education institution

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and to assess the CVD risk (CVDRisk) in a sample of workers at a specific workplace: a higher education institution in Portugal. Data were collected using a questionnaire (e.cuidHaMUs.QueST®) with 345 HEI workers from June 2017-June 2018 with a high response rate (93.3%). Two constructs of risks for CVD were considered: (i) metabolic risk and hypertension (CVDRisk1); and (ii) modifiable behavioural risk (CVDRisk2). Logistic regression analyses were used to establish a relationship between risk indexes/constructs (CVDRisk1 and CVDRisk2) and groups of selected variables. The most prevalent CVD risk factor was hypercholesterolaemia (43.2%). Sixty-eight percent of participants were in the construct CVDRisk1 while almost half of the respondents were in CVDRisk2 (45.2%). The consumption of soft drinks twice a week or more contributed to a significantly increased risk of CVD in CVDRisk1. Lack of regular exercise and lack of daily fruit consumption significantly increased the risk of CVD in CVDRisk2. The challenge to decision makers and the occupational medical community is to incorporate this information into the daily practices of health surveillance with an urgent need for health promotional education campaigns in the workplace.publishe

Seasonal Forecast Climate Data and Hydropower Production in the Douro Basin, in Portugal

This article belongs to the Proceedings of the 4th EWaS: International Conference: Valuing the Water, Carbon, Ecological Footprints of Human ActivitiesABSTRACT: The project CLIM2POWER aims at developing a climate service including state-of-the art seasonal climate forecasts in the planning of the operation of the power systems. This work presents part of the project, addressing the forecasting of the hydropower generation in a case study area, the Portuguese part of the transboundary Douro River basin. Rainfall-runoff modelling was performed on a daily scale using three ensemble members of seasonal climate data (six months) for Portuguese territory crossed with three daily inflow scenarios from Spanish territory defined according to historical observed data. The obtained results reflect the fact that seasonal climate forecast present a wide variation of scenarios and also the fact that hydropower production in Portuguese territory is highly dependent on transboundary inflows. On the other hand, the implemented approach successfully produced consistent runoff and hydropower production results although improvements on the identification of the most probable scenarios are yet required.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Proteus : desenvolvimento de um jerrycan inclusivo otimizado para a logística humanitária.

Dissertação para obtenção de grau de Mestre em Design de Produto, apresentada na Universidade de Lisboa. Faculdade de Arquitetura

GER.e - sistema integrado de apoio à formação e aprendizagem

Mestrado em Engenharia Electrónica e TelecomunicaçõesEsta dissertação teve como principal objectivo a concepção de uma plataforma electrónica para apoio a gestão de actividades de formação. Tendo como objectivo de partida o apoio aos cursos de especialização tecnológica (CET) promovidos no âmbito do Programa Aveiro Norte da Universidade de Aveiro, a plataforma evoluiu para um grau de desenvolvimento que permite a sua utilização num contexto muito mais alargado. De facto, esta plataforma tem sido utilizada, para além dos CET, numa variedade de acções de formação de curta, média e longa duração envolvendo tanto jovens em formação inicial bem como activos com necessidades de requalificação. Um denominador comum a todos os estudos e diagnósticos efectuados nos últimos anos relativos ao estado da economia portuguesa é a falta de recursos humanos com os perfis e níveis de formação adequados aos desafios dos sectores económicos dominantes. Falta de quadros intermédios, oferta excessiva em determinadas áreas e deficitária noutras, são alguns dos indícios do desajustamento entre a oferta de ensino e formação e a respectiva procura. Por outro lado, as estatísticas relativas ao número de jovens entre os 15 e 24 anos de idade, que frequentam algum tipo de ensino ou formação de nível intermédio ou superior mostram que, apesar de vincado aumento ao longo dos últimos anos, os níveis atingidos são claramente inferiores às médias comunitárias. Esta comparação adquire contornos ainda mais negativos se forem tomadas em conta as áreas temáticas de ensino e formação, sendo patente que a frequência de cursos nas áreas tecnológicas se encontra em situação perigosamente deficitária. A isto acrescem os seguintes factores de preocupação: • Um número considerável de acções de formação foram durante vários anos orientadas para a redução do desemprego ou para o complemento de magros salários através de subsídios de formação. Deste modo a atitude pró-activa de formação para novos patamares de exigência ficou frequentemente relegada para uma posição secundária. • Os níveis de sucesso escolar e profissional de uma parte significativa das acções de formação levadas a cabo ao longo dos últimos foram muito baixos. Tais realidades, sendo comuns à generalidade do país, adquirem particular acuidade em zonas com forte tradição industrial de pequenas e médias empresas como é o caso do distrito de Aveiro. Os indícios alarmantes de deslocalização e encerramento de empresas que têm afectado esta região fazem com que a problemática da formação profissional tenha que ser encarada com especial empenho no momento presente. Neste sentido, as organizações do sistema de ensino e formação têm que se apetrechar para responder às necessidades de uma população que, ou saiu mal preparada e de forma demasiado precoce da Escola ou foi arrastada para o desemprego com idade demasiado adiantada para facilmente recomeçar uma profissão. Os programas de formação profissional, de que é exemplo o Programa de Formação Pós-Secundária da Universidade de Aveiro para o Norte do Distrito ( Programa Aveiro-Norte, http://www.aveiro-norte.ua.pt ) são assim, para um grande número de trabalhadores e jovens, um capital de esperança que importa não desperdiçar. Nestes programas de formação profissional, a gestão da actividade formativa requer uma elevada percentagem de recursos humanos e é despendida uma elevada quantidade de tempo na gestão de todos os processos. Esta dissertação deverá descrever o ciclo de desenvolvimento da plataforma electrónica para apoio a gestão de actividades de formação.A common denominator to all studies and diagnoses made to the Portuguese economy in the last years is the lack of human resources with profiles and skill levels appropriated to the most relevant economics challenges. On one hand, the lack of intermediate level professionals, excessive offer in certain areas and deficient in others, are some of the indications of the maladjustment between the teaching offer and training. On the other hand, the statistics relative to the number of young people between 15 and 24 years of age, who are enrolled in some kind of teaching or training of intermediate level or higher education show that, in spite the increase along the last years, the levels reached are clearly inferior to the European Union average. This comparison reaches more negative levels if some thematic teaching and training areas, being clearly that the attendance in courses of technological areas is a dangerously deficient situation. adhere are some more worrying issues: • A considerable number of training actions along the years were oriented to the unemployment reduction or to the complement of thing wages through the training subsidies. This way the pro-active training attitude has been relegated to a secondary position. • Success levels of school and professional of a significant part of training actions in the last years has been very low Such realities, being common to the generality of the country, acquire a particular acuity in areas with small and medium companies with strong industrial tradition. Such is the case of the Aveiro district. The alarming indications of closing companies that have been affected in this region suggest that the professional training issue must be faced with especial determination in this moment. In this sense, the education and training organizations must find answers to the needs of the population that leaves poorly prepared and to soon from school or has been dragged to unemployment in old age for a easily restart a job. Professional training programs, such as the Programa de Formação Pós- Secundária da Universidade de Aveiro para o Norte do Distrito ( Programa Aveiro-Norte, http://www.aveiro-norte.ua.pt), are, for a great number of workers and youngsters, a hope that should not be wasted. In these professional training programs the learning activities have associated an administrative activity that requires a high percentage of human resources and a large amount of time to be spent in the administration of all processes associated to the training activity. This study should allow the conception of a platform that allows reducing the amount of time and human resources allocated to the administrative processes, in particular in the case of the Programa Aveiro Norte

Os dispositivos móveis no apoio a visitas a museus : um estudo da participação através dos dispositivos móveis no apoio à informação e comunicação em

Doutoramento em Informação e Comunicação em Plataformas DigitaisO trabalho de investigação aqui apresentado carateriza e propõe possíveis soluções para algumas das condicionantes associadas à utilização de sistemas de m-Tourism em visitas a museus, relacionadas com mecanismos de disponibilização de conteúdos multimédia e com o acesso e partilha de informação entre visitantes. O estudo empírico parte da realização de entrevistas a profissionais da área do turismo e museus e da aplicação de um questionário a visitantes de museus, para melhor compreender as relações entre as instituições de turismo e os turistas com a internet, Web 2.0 e dispositivos móveis e para caraterizar o cenário atual de utilização destas tecnologias pelos visitantes de museus, bem como de serviços de m-Tourism. A utilização destes instrumentos contribuiu também para o desenvolvimento de um protótipo que concretizasse o conceito de m-Tourism 2.0, o qual estabelece como um dos seus pilares a necessidade de soluções que permitam aos turistas comunicar o que estão a sentir e vivenciar, em qualquer momento da experiência turística, e partilhar essas informações com alguém. Os resultados revelam que um número reduzido de visitantes está envolvido em atividades de partilha de conteúdos e alguma vez utilizou sistemas móveis de apoio a visitas a museus, embora a utilização destes sistemas seja reconhecida como sendo uma mais-valia nesse tipo de visita. Verifica-se, ainda, que há alguma predisposição para os visitantes partilharem comentários e exprimirem as suas preferências, bem como para aceder às informações partilhadas por outros visitantes, em sistemas de m-Tourism. A investigação realizada permite ainda concluir que o protótipo desenvolvido potencia uma melhoria da experiência turística, revelando-se um sistema adequado para a disponibilização de conteúdos multimédia complementares à informação já existente no museu e para a criação de novas dinâmicas de acesso à informação e de comunicação entre os visitantes.The research presented here aims to characterize and propose possible solutions to some of the limitations associated with the use of m-Tourism systems in museum visits, related with multimedia content delivery mechanisms and with information access and share among visitors. The empirical part begins with interviews to tourism and museum professionals, followed by a questionnaire to museum visitors, to better understand the relationships between the institutions of tourism and tourists, on the one hand, and the internet, Web 2.0 and mobile devices, on the other hand, and to characterize the current scenario regarding the use of these technologies by museum visitors, as well of m-Tourism services. The use of these instruments also contributed to the development of a prototype that materializes the m-Tourism 2.0 concept, which is based on the need for solutions that enable tourists to communicate what they are feeling and experiencing, at any given moment during the tourism experience, and to share that information with someone. The results show that a small number of visitors are involved in content sharing activities and have, at some point, used mobile systems to support museum visits, although the use of these systems is recognized as an added value in this type of visit. It also seems that there is some predisposition for visitors to share comments and express their preferences in m-Tourism systems, as well as to access information shared by others. The research also allows to conclude that the prototype leads to an improvement of the tourism experience, revealing to be a suitable system for the delivery of multimedia contents that complement the existing information in the museum and for the creation of new dynamics of access to information and communication between visitors

Concepção de roteiros de formação para a oferta formativa do Programa Aveiro Norte

Este artigo tem por objectivo a apresentação de um roteiro de formação baseado no contexto de estudo acompanhado que recorre à conceptualização de um roteiro de formação/roteiro de aula que identifica os vários módulos formativos ou disciplinas de ensino, organizados através de marcos de aprendizagem indexados aos conteúdos de formação e ensino propostos com o intuito de que estes sejam aprendidos com maior sucesso