A Rule-based Engine to support a Framework for the Experimental Validation of Domain Specific Languages

Software systems are widely used in people daily routines and responsibilities, therefore, systems need to be developed rapidly and efficiently. Domain specific languages (DSLs) are languages that are applied to a specific application domain. Since DSLs provide notations and constructs adapted to a particular domain, they offer gains in expressiveness and ease of use when compared with general-purpose languages (GPLs). Therefore, one of the most important steps in the Software Language Engineering is the evaluation of the languages produced, with the end-users, since the risk of building inappropriate languages, that often do not fit the end users, may decrease productivity. Although DSLs evaluation is one of the most important steps in development process, Software Language Engineers tend to relax the experimental validation of their products due to several reasons like costs (time, means, money, the number of people required, etc.) and required know-how associated with it. The lack of systematic approaches and guidelines to evaluate DSLs, and a comprehensive set of tools may explain this shortcoming in the current state of practice. The Usability Driven DSL development with USE-ME (USE-ME) approach, developed in NOVA-LINCS, "promotes the quality in use of DSLs by building a framework that leverages usability as a main concern". The feedback of the pilot studies was that despite the approach was "more or less easy" to understand it was not easy to model, since "there were too many steps to follow" and the framework did not provide a "guided cycle". So, in order to improve the system usability and the quality of the models produced with USE-ME, we developed a new version of the framework with validation rules implemented with Eclipse Validation Language (EVL) that guide, suggest and validate the Software Language Engineer actions throughout the development process. The validation rules were designed in such a way that the tool educates the user about the process, so that the user makes the best decision regarding his DSL evaluation. We performed two experiments, with different goals. The main goals of the first one was to analyse the effect of validation rules on the USE-ME framework, with respect to their impact on the System Usability Scale, and on the Model Correctness of USE-ME models. We analysed the results and we found evidences of improvements on the System Usability Scale, and on the Model Correctness of models, brought by the addition of the rules. The second experiment was conducted with a research team from Ege University, in Turkey. The main goal of this experiment was to perform a guided evaluation on a DSL related with Multi-Agent Systems, SEA-ML. Since the number of participants was low we cannot draw conclusions regarding this experiment. Despite the significant results from the first experiment further evaluation on the new version of the framework is necessary, this time, with more experienced users and with more complex exercises. With this new experiment, we can compare the results and improve the USE-ME framework

Effective fire extinguishing systems for lithium-ion battery

Lithium-ion batteries are a popular choice of power source for a variety of energy and power demanding applications for both stationary applications and electromobility. Among electrochemical storage systems, Lithium-ion batteries were found to be promising candidate, due to their high power and high energy density. In order to assemble high power batteries for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and pure electric vehicles, several hundreds of large-format Lithium-ion cells will be required, and even more cells for power/energy demanding stationary applications. However, safety remains a significant concern, as battery failure leads to ejection of hazardous materials and rapid heat release. The failure of a single cell can generate a large amount of heat which can then initiate, in the worst case, the thermal runaway of neighbouring cells, leading to failure throughout the battery pack. The heat accumulation can also run into the venting of a cell, with the emission of flammable organic solvent inside the battery pack. Battery failure can be initiated via a number of different abuse scenarios, such as overheating, overcharging, puncture/crushing, water immersion, or external short circuit. Development of effective mitigation strategies necessitates a study on battery failure events and a better understanding of important characteristics relating to safety, such as heat release, hazardous materials ejection, and thermal propagation. On the other hand, when a fire event is initiated, proper intervention strategies have to be defined in order to avoid it becoming catastrophic. In this paper are reported the results of thermal abuse tests on single Lithium-ion cells and a battery pack. The tests were performed with the technical equipment and resources of National Fire Corps. Screening tests for battery fire extinguishing agents were also performed. The effectiveness of an agent was evaluated through experiments on the cooling effect of fire extinguishing agents. Among the various agents, water and foam were found to be the most effective

La rappresentazione del rapporto tra utenti e sistema sanitario: I modelli culturali dei medici di medicina generale - The representation of the relationship between users and healthcare system: Cultural models of general practitioners

The present research study explores the emotional and symbolic representation of the Italian healthcare system and specifically of general medical services reported by a group of Italian general practitioners. General medicine is recently affected by a structural change which could be sustained also by a cultural revolution, however this revolution seems to be oriented to expected values without a clear methodology which promotes and accompanies this cultural change. The present study deals with the lack of practices due to these unrealized expected values and assumes that for intervening it is necessary knowing the existing culture before thinking to change it. Interviews to 36 general practitioners were analyzed by Emotional Text Analysis (AET). Results highlight a factorial space characterized by five clusters. According to respondents’ perspective, healthcare problems refer to two large issues characterized by powerlessness of general practitioners to intervene. On the one hand, there is health emergency, dealt with by first aid and emergency medicine. On the other hand, there is chronicity, especially affecting the elderly, which is dealt with by other workers (nurses, private family assistants, social workers) who care patients at home and replace physicians. The general practitioners’ work is difficult because of many different reasons; but the central theme is the lack of absolute power – based on morality and consciousness – which leads to the perception of catastrophic consequences for medical profession and the physician-patient relationship. Often, general practitioners are in their offices and are not able to go to patients’ home, therefore they cannot create care relationships based on trust and dependence which allow useful and trustworthy interventions. In sum, the core theme emerging from data refers to the general practitioners’ perceived lack of personal and trust-based relationships with patients

Professionals' perception about the guidebook Violence against the elderly in the family context

Prevention and intervention in domestic violence against the elderly requires a multidisciplinary and concerted approach of the interinstitutional network of ali the professionals and organizations involved. Starting from the reality of the organization of the intervention services of the district of Bragança it was developed and distributed in the network services a guidebook entitled "Violence against the elderly in the family context: support guide for professionals in the identification and signaling". This communication aims to: (i) understand the impact ofthis resource for the development of professional skills m the protection of the elderly; (li) strengthen the interinstitutional network for the prevention of domestic violence against the elderly. To accomplish these goals a quantitative and cross-sectional study was conducted on a representativé survey of professionals and formal caregivers of the district of Bragança. This pioneering study, carried out in the northem and interior region of Portugal, reinforces the importance of an integrated perspective that considers the local idiosyncrasies for the affirmation of the rights of older people, as well as for the qualification of ali those involved in the promotion ofadequate care for the elderly.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pictures of paternal involvement with preschool-aged children in the city of Bragança

Com o estudo descrito neste artigo visa-se caraterizar o envolvimento paterno com crianças em idade pré-escolar na cidade de Bragança, analisando especificamente os domínios referentes aos cuidados, às atividades lúdicas e à disciplina. Partindo do modelo multidimensional proposto por Lamb, Pleck, Charnov e Levine (1987) e da revisão da literatura existente na área, neste estudo exploratório de cariz quantitativo, utilizou-se como instrumento de recolha de informação uma versão adaptada da Escala de Envolvimento Paterno (Simões, Leal & Maroco 2010a) junto a uma amostra de 435 pais, com idades compreendidas entre os 20 e 62 anos. Os resultados apontam para um maior envolvimento do pai em atividades lúdicas e menor ao nível da disciplina. Foi igualmente evidente que os pais não se diferenciam no envolvimento em função do estado civil e da situação profissional, mas diferem em função da escolaridade, da idade do pai e do número de filhos numa análise intra-itens. A idade e o género da criança não influenciam o envolvimento paterno nos domínios considerados.Despite the growing interest in father involvement little is known on national research. The study described in this article aims to characterize parental involvement with preschool-aged children in the city of Bragança, in the areas relating to care, recreational activities and discipline. Based on a multidimensional model proposed by Lamb, Pleck, Charnov and Levine (1987) and on the literature review in the field, it was developed a quantitative study with an adapted version of the Parental Involvement Scale (Simões, Leal & Maroco 2010a) as a core technique in data collection with a sample of 435 parents, aged between 20 and 62 years. Results demonstrate that fathers are more involved in recreational activities and less involved at the level of discipline. Parents don´t differ in involvement on the basis of marital and employment status, but differ depending on the father´s education and age and also on the number of children in an intra-item analysis. The age and gender of the child differentiate father´s involvement in the fields investigatedinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

O idoso e a teleassistência: novos desafios para a cooperação intersectorial

O desenvolvimento tecnológico tem potenciado alterações significativas no paradigma de cuidados ao idoso, para além das suas formas tradicionais (Paúl, 2005; Turner & McGee-Lennon, 2013). Visando uma maior compreensão da realidade da teleassistência desenvolveu-se o presente estudo tendo como objetivos: conhecer o perfil sociodemográfico do idoso que usufrui da teleassistência, numa empresa privada no distrito de Bragança, e incentivar reflexões para a cooperação intersetorial. Trata-se assim de um estudo exploratório, de carácter quantitativo, tendo como instrumento de recolha de dados um questionário fechado. Este engloba uma parte alusiva à caracterização sociodemográfica dos elementos da amostra e uma segunda constituída por 18 items referentes à teleassistência distribuídos por três dimensões (adesão e decisão, perceção de benefícios e utilização do aparelho de teleassistência). Em relação aos 87 idosos inquiridos constata-se um utilizador maioritariamente do género feminino, com idade elevada, em arranjo domiciliário unipessoal. Independentemente do género e da avaliação da perceção do estado de saúde, ser viúvo influencia a tomada de decisão quanto ao uso da teleassistência. Cabe repensar os desafios no âmbito da cooperação intersectorial

Jean Piaget

O Poster apresenta a biografia de Jean Piaget, os fundamentos teóricos e práticos da sua obra pedagógica, a atualidade da sua pedagogia e respetivas implicações na educação.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The telecare and the elderly: new challenges for intersectoral cooperation

Este estudo pretende identificar o perfil sociodemográfico do idoso que usufrui da teleassistência; conhecer a decisão, os benefícios e o uso da teleassistência pelo idoso e incentivar reflexões para a cooperação intersectorial. A partir de uma amostra de conveniência, constituída por 87 idosos, foi utilizado um questionário fechado composto por uma caracterização sociodemográfica, perceção do estado de saúde e, itens referentes à adesão, decisão, perceção de benefícios e utilização da teleassistência. Os resultados evidenciam um utilizador maioritariamente feminino, em arranjo domiciliário unipessoal, com idade elevada, escolaridade de quatro ou mais anos e uma perceção maioritariamente razoável do estado de saúde. A teleassistência é percebida pelo idoso como fonte de segurança/tranquilidade, tendo-se constatado que ser viúvo influencia a decisão sobre o uso e que o nível de escolaridade influencia a verificação do funcionamento do aparelho

Guide to support victims of domestic violence

This poster aims to disseminate the resource entitled "Guide to Support Victims of Domestic Violence". This guide was designed to respond to the needs of ali the professionals involved in providing care and intervention with victims of domestic violence in the district of Bragança, on the northen and interior region of Portugal. This resource was developed during the intemship and supervision of the degree in Social Education at the School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança in the Center for Support Victims of Domestic Violence in the District of Bragança (Núcleo de Apoio às Vítimas de Violência Doméstica do Distrito de Bragança). It is also worth mentioning that, for its implementation, it had support from diferent entities (PROPH, Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional, Governo da República Portuguesa, União Europeia-Fundo Social Europeu, Comisssão para a Cidadania e Igualdade de Género). Since 2012 until now, support professionals of the district of Bragança, provide this guide to the victims ofdomestic violence, in a culturally conscious and respectfül manner, m accordance with ethical and professional principies. It should also be mentioned that this informative guide attemps to provide answers to the most common questions ofthe victims, in an easy-to-read style. That way, together with the support of specialized professionals in victim support, enables conscious decision making ofthe victim, without trivializing the suffering involved and minimizing the risks associated.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio