Sensor fault tolerant architecture for irrigation canals

10th Portuguese Conference on Automatic Control, 2012, Funchal, Portugalinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Characterization of polyester with fiberglass materials as reinforcement in interior dividing walls

Some synthetic fibers present better mechanical performance compared with the natural fibers. Therefor research works were carried out to focus the characterization of polyester and glass fibers to be used as reinforcements in the internal dividing walls. Results from polyester fabrics made of compression with or without fiberglass were obtained

Avaliação directa da toxicidade de águas residuais: um caso de estudo

A avaliação global das águas residuais deve integrar ensaios ecotoxicológicos complementando a caracterização química, especialmente no caso de águas residuais complexas. O projecto ECORIVER, que decorreu na Bacia do Rio Trancão, integrou o estudo ecotoxicológico e físico-químico de águas residuais de empresas de vários sectores industriais. Apresentam-se resultados relativos à avaliação ecotoxicológica de águas residuais de 17 empresas através da utilização de ensaios agudos e crónicos, com diferentes espécies: a bactéria Vibrio fischeri, a alga Pseudokircheneriella subcapitata, os crustáceos Thamnocephalus platyurus e Daphnia magna, e a planta Lemna minor. A análise dos resultados permitiu concluir que uma bateria de ensaios com uma bactéria, um crustáceo e uma alga, é representativa. Concluiu-se ainda que a utilização da abordagem ecotoxicológica é uma mais-valia para a avaliação do perigo e do risco de descargas para o meio hídrico e pode contribuir para um mais correcto estabelecimento de condições de descarga, com o objectivo de atingir a boa qualidade ecológica das massas de água. A monitorização e a gestão ambiental podem utilizar esta ferramenta com vantagens

Data based modeling of a large scale water delivery system

Trabalho apresentado em 12th Portuguese Conference on Automatic Control, 2016, Guimarães, Portugalinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modelling drugs' pharmacodynamic interaction during general anaesthesia: the choice of pharmacokinetic model

The effect of drugs’ interaction on the brain signal Bispectral Index (BIS) is of great importance for an anaesthesia control drug infusion system. In this study, two renowned pharmacokinetic (PK) models for propofol are compared, in order to evaluate its influence on the performance/predictably of a drug interaction model for BIS, considering data of 45 patients. The model was fitted per patient during anaesthesia induction, and tested for prediction under surgery. The results showed that the choice of PK model had influence on the overall performance. In the prediction phase, only one PK model presented good results with small errors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Multi-Agent Control Architecture for Supply Chains using a Predictive Pull-Flow Perspective

Com o apoio RAADRI.Supply chains are large-scale distribution networks in which multiple types of commodities are present. In this paper, the operations management in supply chains is posed as a tracking control problem. All inventory levels in the network should be kept as close as possible to the desired values over time. The supply chain state is disturbed due to client demand at the end nodes. A multiagent control architecture to restore all inventory levels over the supply chain is proposed. First the model for the supply chain is broken down into smaller subsystems using a flow decomposition. The operations management for each subsystem will be decided upon by a dedicated control agent. The control agents solve their problems using a pull-flow perspective, starting at the end nodes and then propagating upstream. Adding new components to the supply chain will have as a consequence the inclusion of more control agents. The proposed architecture is easily scalable to large supply chains due to its modular feature. The multi-agent control architecture performance is illustrated using a supply chain composed of four levels (suppliers, consolidation, distribution, end nodes) using different levels of predictions about client demands. With the increase of prediction demand accuracy the proposed control architecture is able to keep the desired inventory level at the end nodes over time, which makes it suitable for use for just in time production strategies

Medication adherence predictors in epilepsy: longitudinal study

Introdução: A não adesão à medicação na epilepsia é prevalente, pelo que a compreensão dos fatores associados deve ser promovida. Objetivos: Analisar a capacidade preditiva das estratégias de coping e da espiritualidade em relação à adesão à medicação ao longo do tempo. Metodologia: Foram avaliados 60 indivíduos através de um Questionário Sociodemográfico e Clínico, a Medida de Adesão aos Tratamentos, o COPER e a Escala de Avaliação de Espiritualidade em Contextos de Saúde, em dois momentos. Resultados: A espiritualidade Momento 1 não se relacionou com adesão à medicação no Momento 3, e as estratégias de coping: Desinvestimento Comportamental e Aceitação no Momento 1 predizem negativamente a adesão à medicação no Momento 2. Conclusão: A relação entre a adesão à medicação, estratégias de coping e espiritualidade varia em função do tempo, o que deve ser considerado ao nível da intervenção.ABSTRACT - Introduction: The nonmedication adherence in epilepsy is prevalent by which the understanding of associated factors should be promoted. Objectives: To analyze the predictive capacity of the coping strategies and spirituality in relation to medication adherence over time. Methodology: A sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire, medical adherence to treatment, COPER and spirituality evaluation scale in health contexts was undertaken to evaluate 60 individuals with epilepsy, in three moments. Results: Spirituality at Moment 1 is not related to medication adherence at Moment 3, and the coping strategies: behavioral disinvestment and acceptance at Moment 1 predict medication adherence at moment 2. Conclusion: The relation between medication adherence, coping strategies and spirituality change according to time, which should be considered on the level intervention

Coping na doença neurológica: epilepsia vs. esclerose múltipla

As doenças neurológicas têm consequências biopsicossociais marcadas e exigem um conjunto de cuidados que podem interferir consideravelmente com o estilo de vida pré-diagnóstico. Não sendo homogéneas, questiona-se até que ponto os indivíduos com diferentes doenças neurológicas tendem a usar o mesmo tipo de estratégias para lidar com o stress pós-diagnóstico. Foram avaliados 134 doentes: 101 com esclerose múltipla e 33 com epilepsia, entre os 18 e os 65 anos (M=35,9, DP=8,29), 82 dos quais do sexo feminino, através do COPE-R. Verificou-se que os dois grupos clínicos diferiam apenas na frequência de utilização de quatro das 14 estratégias avaliadas. A escolaridade estava relacionada com apenas duas estratégias, a idade com uma e os anos de diagnóstico com outra. As semelhanças identificadas nos presentes dados, preliminares, não contra-indicam a planificação de grupos heterogéneos ao nível da doença, idade, escolaridade e anos de diagnóstico se o objectivo for trabalhar as estratégias de coping

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

ATENA–A Novel Rapidly Manufactured Medical Invasive Ventilator Designed as a Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Testing Protocol, Safety, and Performance Validation

Background: The urgent need for mechanical ventilators to support respiratory insufficiency due to SARS-CoV-2 led to a worldwide effort to develop low-cost, easily assembled, and locally manufactured ventilators. The ATENA ventilator project was developed in a community-based approach targeting the development, prototyping, testing, and decentralized manufacturing of a new mechanical ventilator. Objective: This article aims to demonstrate ATENA's adequate performance and safety for clinical use. Material: ATENA is a low-cost ventilator that can be rapidly manufactured, easily assembled, and locally produced anywhere in the world. It was developed following the guidelines and requirements provided by European and International Regulatory Authorities (MHRA, ISO 86201) and National Authorities (INFARMED). The device was thoroughly tested using laboratory lung simulators and animal models. Results: The device meets all the regulatory requirements for pandemic ventilators. Additionally, the pre-clinical experiences demonstrated security and adequate ventilation and oxygenation, in vivo. Conclusion: The ATENA ventilator had a good performance in required tests in laboratory scenarios and pre-clinical studies. In a pandemic context, ATENA is perfectly suited for safely treating patients in need of mechanical ventilation.Financial support and sponsorship by CEiiA, INOV4COVID program, donations from scientific patronage, and commercial sales