Designing better spaces for people: Virtual reality and biometric sensing as tools to evaluate space use

We present a pilot study aiming to explore the use of biometrics sensing technology within a semi-immersive VR environment, where users face architectural spaces which induce them sensations close to fear of heights, claustrophobia, frustration and relief. Electrodermal activity was used to detect users’ emotional arousal, while navigating in VR. Navigation conditions and participants’ expertise with games were controlled. Main results show that physiological measurement of user’s perceptions can discriminate well "positive" from "negative" spaces, providing designers with basic information on people’s emotional state when using the buildings they design.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Controlling magnetic order and quantum disorder in molecule-based magnets.

We investigate the structural and magnetic properties of two molecule-based magnets synthesized from the same starting components. Their different structural motifs promote contrasting exchange pathways and consequently lead to markedly different magnetic ground states. Through examination of their structural and magnetic properties we show that [Cu(pyz)(H 2 O)(gly) 2 ](ClO 4 ) 2 may be considered a quasi-one-dimensional quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet whereas the related compound [Cu(pyz)(gly)](ClO 4 ) , which is formed from dimers of antiferromagnetically interacting Cu 2+ spins, remains disordered down to at least 0.03 K in zero field but shows a field-temperature phase diagram reminiscent of that seen in materials showing a Bose-Einstein condensation of magnons

a risk for uncontrolled and more severe asthma in adults that we should keep an eye on

Background. Asthma control can be influenced by several factors, including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The literature reports variable prevalence and magnitude of OSA impact on asthma outcomes. The aim of our study is to analyze the frequency of high-risk for OSA in asthma patients and its impact on disease severity and control. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional study at an Allergy Department with adult asthma patients recruited while undergoing routine lung function tests. Data on sex, age, body mass index, allergen sensitization, smoking habits, risk of OSA (using the Berlin questionnaire), rhinitis control (through CARAT), asthma severity (based on GINA 2023), asthma control (using the ACT), adherence to asthma treatment (through Treatment Adherence Measure) and pulmonary function test results were collected. Results. We included 216 patients, predominantly women (70.4%), with a median (P25-P75) age of 29.0 (21.0-45.0) years, of whom 28.2% were on GINA treatment levels 4-5. In 75.5% of cases asthma was controlled. High-risk for OSA was identified in 21.8% of patients. Asthma patients with high-risk for OSA were more likely to have uncontrolled [(47.8%; n = 22) vs (15.8%; n = 26); p less than 0.001] and more severe disease [(44.7%; n = 21) vs (23.7%; n = 40), p = 0.006]. In multivariable analysis, high-risk for OSA (OR 2.81 [95%CI 1.1.28-6.17], p = 0.010), sex (women) (OR 5.21 [95% CI 1.70-15.96], p = 0.004), uncontrolled rhinitis (OR 3.65 [95%CI 1.38-9.64], p = 0.009) and GINA asthma treatment steps 4-5 (OR 2.46 [95%CI 1.15-5.26], p = 0.020) were associated with uncontrolled asthma. Conclusions. It is crucial to actively investigate OSA, especially in patients with uncontrolled and more severe forms of asthma.publishersversionepub_ahead_of_prin

Space perception in virtual environments: On how biometric sensing in virtual environments may give architects users's feedback

This paper focuses on the objective study of emotions, namely, fear induced by architectural spaces, by sensing and statistically analysing some physiological signals of users experiencing Virtual Environments (VE). For this, a virtual building was designed considering the presence of stairs and ramps as architectural elements that could affect users´ physiological states and perception of fear of falling. Thirty-one older persons participated in this study and were assigned to two experimental conditions (i.e., safe and unsafe conditions). Five main locations (beginning of the stairs; neutral room; first descending ramp; ascending ramp; and the middle of ascending ramp) were considered along the participants' path, and heart rate (HR) was collected in the vicinity of those locations. Results shown significant differences in HR activation among neutral, beginning of stairs and middle of ascending ramp. Despite the fact that the effect of condition was not fully verified for HR, participants reported more fear while interacting with the unsafe condition, with significant differences between conditions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Food Allergy in Children - Data from an Allergy Outpatient Clinic

Estima-se que a prevalência de alergia alimentar nos países Ocidentais seja de cerca de 2 % na população geral e até 8% em crianças, não existindo dados concretos no que diz respeito a Portugal. Objectivos: Avaliar a prevalência de alergia alimentar e identificar os alergenos alimentares principais numa população de crianças observadas na Consulta de Imunoalergologia do Hospital de Dona Estefânia num período de 12 meses. Métodos: Foi feita uma revisão de registos clínicos dos 4879 doentes com idade igual ou inferior a 18 anos observados na Consulta durante o ano de 1998. O diagnóstico baseou-se na história clínica, testes cutâneos por prick e prova de provocação oral. Foram incluídos os casos de alergia alimentar clinicamente relevante nos últimos três anos de vida. Resultados: Foi identificada uma prevalência de alergia alimentar de 8,5% (414 casos, correspondendo a 477 quadros de alergia alimentar), sendo o alimento alergénico mais importante o leite, seguido por ovo e peixe. No subgrupo de crianças com idade superior a 12 anos o padrão foi bastante diferente, surgindo os crustáceos, o peixe, o amendoim, os frutos frescos e secos como principais alergenos. A maioria das crianças (83%) apresentou sensibilização a apenas um alimento. Clinicamente, predominaram os quadros de urticária e angioedema, seguidos por vómitos, diarreia e agravamento de dermite atópica. Conclusões: A população estudada apresenta uma prevalência de alergia alimentar de 8,5%, sendo de prever que seja inferior na população geral pediátrica. Será interessante complementar este estudo com dados obtidos noutros grupos etários, visando uma melhor identificação da prevalência de alergia alimentar e dos alergenos alimentares major no nosso país. É indispensável sensibilizar as entidades responsáveis pela regulamentação da indústria alimentar para a necessidade de uma melhoria a nível dos processos de fabrico e rotulagem no sentido de uma maior protecção do doente alérgico

Predicting progression of mild cognitive impairment to dementia using neuropsychological data: a supervised learning approach using time windows

Background: Predicting progression from a stage of Mild Cognitive Impairment to dementia is a major pursuit in current research. It is broadly accepted that cognition declines with a continuum between MCI and dementia. As such, cohorts of MCI patients are usually heterogeneous, containing patients at different stages of the neurodegenerative process. This hampers the prognostic task. Nevertheless, when learning prognostic models, most studies use the entire cohort of MCI patients regardless of their disease stages. In this paper, we propose a Time Windows approach to predict conversion to dementia, learning with patients stratified using time windows, thus fine-tuning the prognosis regarding the time to conversion. Methods: In the proposed Time Windows approach, we grouped patients based on the clinical information of whether they converted (converter MCI) or remained MCI (stable MCI) within a specific time window. We tested time windows of 2, 3, 4 and 5 years. We developed a prognostic model for each time window using clinical and neuropsychological data and compared this approach with the commonly used in the literature, where all patients are used to learn the models, named as First Last approach. This enables to move from the traditional question "Will a MCI patient convert to dementia somewhere in the future" to the question "Will a MCI patient convert to dementia in a specific time window". Results: The proposed Time Windows approach outperformed the First Last approach. The results showed that we can predict conversion to dementia as early as 5 years before the event with an AUC of 0.88 in the cross-validation set and 0.76 in an independent validation set. Conclusions: Prognostic models using time windows have higher performance when predicting progression from MCI to dementia, when compared to the prognostic approach commonly used in the literature. Furthermore, the proposed Time Windows approach is more relevant from a clinical point of view, predicting conversion within a temporal interval rather than sometime in the future and allowing clinicians to timely adjust treatments and clinical appointments.FCT under the Neuroclinomics2 project [PTDC/EEI-SII/1937/2014, SFRH/BD/95846/2013]; INESC-ID plurianual [UID/CEC/50021/2013]; LASIGE Research Unit [UID/CEC/00408/2013

Where Is More Important Than How in Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Restoration

Restoration is considered an effective strategy to accelerate the recovery of biological communities at local scale. However, the effects of restoration actions in the marine ecosystems are still unpredictable. We performed a global analysis of published literature to identify the factors increasing the probability of restoration success in coastal and marine systems. Our results confirm that the majority of active restoration initiatives are still concentrated in the northern hemisphere and that most of information gathered from restoration efforts derives from a relatively small subset of species. The analysis also indicates that many studies are still experimental in nature, covering small spatial and temporal scales. Despite the limits of assessing restoration effectiveness in absence of a standardized definition of success, the context (degree of human impact, ecosystem type, habitat) of where the restoration activity is undertaken is of greater relevance to a successful outcome than how (method) the restoration is carried out. Contrary to expectations, we found that restoration is not necessarily more successful closer to protected areas (PA) and in areas of moderate human impact. This result can be motivated by the limits in assessing the success of interventions and by the tendency of selecting areas in more obvious need of restoration, where the potential of actively restoring a degraded site is more evident. Restoration sites prioritization considering human uses and conservation status present in the region is of vital importance to obtain the intended outcomes and galvanize further actions

Ocean Circulation over North Atlantic underwater features in the path of the Mediterranean Outflow Water: Ormonde and Formigas seamounts, and the Gazul mud volcano

Seamounts constitute an obstacle to the ocean circulation, modifying it. As a result, a variety of hydrodynamical processes and phenomena may take place over seamounts, among others, flow intensification, current deflection, upwelling, Taylor caps, and internal waves. These oceanographic effects may turn seamounts into very productive ecosystems with high species diversity, and in some cases, are densely populated by benthic organisms, such corals, gorgonians, and sponges. In this study, we describe the oceanographic conditions over seamounts and other underwater features in the path of the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW), where populations of benthic suspensions feeders have been observed. Using CTD, LADPC and biochemical measurements carried out in the Ormonde and Formigas seamounts and the Gazul mud volcano (Northeast Atlantic), we show that Taylor caps were not observed in any of the sampled features. However, we point out that the relatively high values of the Brunt–Väisälä frequency in the MOW halocline, in conjunction with the slope of the seamount flanks, set up conditions for the breakout of internal waves and amplification of the currents. This may enhance the vertical mixing, resuspending the organic material deposited on the seafloor and, therefore, increasing the food availability for the communities dominated by benthic suspension feeders. Thus, we hypothesize that internal waves could be improving the conditions for benthic suspension feeders to grow on the slope of seamounts.En prens