MasterFinger: Multi-finger Haptic Interface for Collaborative Environments

This paper introduces the Master Finger development and application, a multi-finger haptic interface for virtual object manipulation. This haptic device, with a modular interface, is specially designed to perform collaborative tasks. Each module is in charge of managing the haptic interaction with a finger. The mechanical structure of the module is based on a serial-parallel structure linked to the finger thimble by a gimble with its own controller. Cooperative applications based onMasterFinger-2 (MF2) are also described in this study. Results from these applications show that multifinger interface is a significant leap in haptic devices since precise object grasping and collaborative manipulation by using two hands are successfully performed

Thermal and comfort measurements of mattress protectors used for prevention of pressure ulcers

This work attempts to characterize several mattress protectors in terms of their ability to prevent Pressure Ulcers by testing their thermal and mechanical characteristics.This work was supported by FCT with the grant SFRH/BD/79762/2011

ACE-2005-PT: corpus for event extraction in portuguese

Event extraction is an NLP task that commonly involves identifying the central word (trigger) for an event and its associated arguments in text. ACE-2005 is widely recognised as the standard corpus in this field. While other corpora, like PropBank, primarily focus on annotating predicate-argument structure, ACE-2005 provides comprehensive information about the overall event structure and semantics. However, its limited language coverage restricts its usability. This paper introduces ACE-2005-PT, a corpus created by translating ACE-2005 into Portuguese, with European and Brazilian variants. To speed up the process of obtaining ACE-2005-PT, we rely on automatic translators. This, however, poses some challenges related to automatically identifying the correct alignments between multi-word annotations in the original text and in the corresponding translated sentence. To achieve this, we developed an alignment pipeline that incorporates several alignment techniques: lemmatization, fuzzy matching, synonym matching, multiple translations and a BERT-based word aligner. To measure the alignment effectiveness, a subset of annotations from the ACE-2005-PT corpus was manually aligned by a linguist expert. This subset was then compared against our pipeline results which achieved exact and relaxed match scores of 70.55% and 87.55% respectively. As a result, we successfully generated a Portuguese version of the ACE-2005 corpus, which has been accepted for publication by LDC

Mapeamento de processos de recursos humanos

Mestrado em Administração e Gestão PúblicaEste projecto pretende ser um instrumento de trabalho, disponível para todos os que trabalhem na área de recursos humanos, especialmente nos departamentos intermédios de saúde. Com este projecto procura-se, através de um manual de procedimentos e mapeamento de processos, auxiliar na compreensão dos processos e fluxos de trabalho, os que não estão familiarizados com esta área, ou, mesmo os que tendo dúvidas sobre os procedimentos a adoptar, as pretendam resolver duma forma rápida e acessível. Na verdade, numa época de mudança e de cessação da actividade de muitos profissionais, procura-se neste projecto transformar o conhecimento tácito dos trabalhadores que possuam uma vasta experiência em processos de Recursos Humanos, em conhecimento explícito, disponibilizando-o a todos os que dele necessitem no futuro. O projecto exposto permitirá, através da formalização do conhecimento, até aqui na posse dos colaboradores, pela sua descrição e representação gráfica dos fluxos de trabalho, não só, transformar o conhecimento implícito em explícito, como, ainda, compreender os processos de trabalho, as relações com os clientes, a forma como se transmite o conhecimento, garantir a eficácia e eficiência dos serviços, procurando a qualidade, a identificação de oportunidades de melhoria, com vista à melhoria contínua dos processos. Através da realização das reuniões de “Focus Group” para análise e validação dos processos, constatámos que os profissionais intervenientes se apropriaram, também, do conhecimento exposto, o que de algum modo, nos leva a extrapolar a conclusão que a sua utilização no dia a dia poderá trazer vantagens para os trabalhadores da área de Recursos Humanos do Agrupamento em causa ou de outros. Este será sempre um processo em construção, pois podem ser acrescentados ao manual novos processos, ou reformular os existentes adaptando-os a nova legislação, ou incrementando melhorias no mesmo. Este instrumento de trabalho constitui, ele próprio, um instrumento de mudança que permite disponibilizar o conhecimento de uma forma estruturada a todos, e um contributo para as práticas de gestão, enquanto normalizador das actividades, permitindo um processo contínuo de revisão. Poderá, ainda servir de base a um processo de certificação de qualidade dos serviços.This project aims to be a working tool, available to those working in the area of human resources, especially in intermediate health departments. With this project it is searched, by means of a manual of procedures and processes mapping, to assist in the understanding of processes and workflows, those who are unfamiliar with this area, or even those who may have doubts about the procedures to be adopted, and wish to solve them in a quick and accessible way. Indeed, in a time of change and cessation of activity of many professionals, this project seeks to transform the tacit knowledge of workers who possess extensive experience in Human Resources processes, on explicit knowledge, making it available to all of those who might need it in the future. The project will set out, through the formalization of knowledge until now held by employees, by its description and graphical representation of workflows, not only, to transform implicit knowledge into explicit as also to understand the work processes, relationships with customers, how to convey knowledge, to ensure effective and efficient services, looking for quality, identifying opportunities for improvement, with a view to continuous improvement process. Through the implementation of meetings of "Focus Group" for analysis and validation processes, we verified that professional actors have appropriated also of the knowledge above, which somehow leads us to extrapolate the conclusion that their use on the day-to-day can bring benefits to the workers in the area of Human Resources from the Group in question or to others. This will always be an ongoing process, because they can be added to the manual new processes, or reformulate existing ones adapting them to the new legislation, or making improvements to it. This working tool is itself an instrument of change that can deliver the knowledge in a structured way to all, and a contribution to management practices, while normalizing the activities, allowing a continuous process of review. It may also be the basis for a certification process for service quality

Thermal properties of mattress protectors for the prevention of pressure ulcers

[Excerpt] Pressure Ulcers develop when there is excessive pressure on a bony prominence for a long period of time, which may compress the tissue and blood vessels between the bone and the support surface (Theaker, 2003). Temperature plays an important role in their development. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate materials used for their prevention in terms of their thermal properties. Moreover, these properties are pivotal in the comfort perceived by the end-user. [...]This work is financed by FEDER funds through the Competitive Factors Operational Program (COMPETE) and by national funds through FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) with the grant SFRH/BD/79762/2011 and the project PEst-C/CTM/U10264/2011

Improvement of episodic memory retention by a memory reactivation intervention across the lifespan: from younger adults to amnesic patients

Spontaneous reactivation of recently acquired memories is a fundamental mechanism of memory stabilization. Re-exposure to specific learned cues during sleep or awake states, namely targeted memory reactivation, has been shown to improve memory retention at long delays. Manipulation of memory reactivation could have potential clinical value in populations with memory deficits or cognitive decline. However, no previous study investigated a target memory reactivation approach on those populations. Here we tested the hypothesis that a reactivation-based intervention would improve episodic memory performance in healthy adults and amnestic patients. On Day 1, young adults, old adults and amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment patients (n = 150) learned face-name pairs and 24 h later either received a reactivation intervention or a reactivation control (Day 2). On Day 3, associative and item memory were assessed. A robust Bayesian Generalized Mixed Model was implemented to estimate intervention effects on groups. Groups that underwent the reactivation-based intervention showed improved associative memory retention. Notably, amnestic patients benefited more from the intervention as they also had better item memory retention than controls. These findings support memory reactivation as stabilization and strengthening mechanism irrespectively of age and cognitive status, and provides proof-of-concept evidence that reactivation-based interventions could be implemented in the treatment and rehabilitation of populations with memory deficits.Fil: Fernández, Rodrigo Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Picco, Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Beron, Juan Cruz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Bavassi, Mariana Luz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Campos, Jorge. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea". Servicio de Neurología Cognitiva, Neuropsiquiatría y Neuropsicología; ArgentinaFil: Allegri, Jorge. Fundación para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia. Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas "Raúl Carrea". Servicio de Neurología Cognitiva, Neuropsiquiatría y Neuropsicología; ArgentinaFil: Predreira, Maria Eugenia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; Argentin

Are parental physical activity and social support associated with adolescents’ meeting physical activity recommendations?

OBJETIVE: To verify whether parental physical activity and social support are associated with adolescents meeting physical activity recommendations. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study which selected 1,390 adolescents (59.6% girls) from Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. The IPAQ (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), QAFA (Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents), and ASAFA (Social Support for Physical Activity Practice in Adolescents) questionnaires were applied. Binary logistic regression was used to test the relationship among the study variables. RESULTS: For boys, having parents who “always offer assistance” (OR = 1.96; 95%CI: 1.16–3.32) and having parents or legal guardians who meet the PA recommendations (OR = 2.78; 95%CI: 1.76–4.38) were associated with meeting the PA recommendations. Odds were greater after adjusting for socioeconomic status (OR = 3.47; 95%CI: 1.73–6.96) and schooling level (OR = 4.20; 95%CI: 1.96–9.02). For girls, those with parents or legal guardians who “sometimes encourage them” (OR = 0.61; 95%CI: 0.37–0.98) had lower odds of meeting PA recommendations. These odds were higher after adjusting for socioeconomic status (OR = 2.11; 95%CI: 1.36–3.29) and schooling level (OR = 4.30; 95%CI: 2.41–7.69). CONCLUSIONS: Boys and girls were more likely to meet PA recommendations daily by having parents met PA recommendations than by receiving parental social support. These results could help establish future interventions aimed at modifying behaviors related to PA in adolescents

Untangling a web of temporal relations in news articles

Temporal reasoning has been the focus of several studies during the past years, both in linguistics and computational studies. Although advances on this topic are undeniable, there are still improvements to be made and new avenues to pursue. One relevant problem concerns the temporal ordering of the events, particularly asserting and representing how events are temporally related and how the story told in the narrative evolves. This paper aims to analyse the temporal structure of narratives present in news articles with the aid of di"erent visualisations. To this end, we annotated a dataset of 119 news articles in European Portuguese following an annotation scheme that combines di"erent parts of ISO 24617-Language Resource Management - Semantic Annotation Framework (SemAF). The temporal layer of this annotation scheme identi!es the events and their main features, as well as the temporal links between the events. The annotation provided us with paramount information about the temporal characteristics of news at two levels: the story and the report levels. The visualisations that we propose facilitate the process of understanding how news are temporally organised, providing a more practical means to observe them