Fatigue detection system to aid in remote work

During the Covid-19 pandemic there was a noticeable surge in the amount of remote workers. In the aftermath of the pandemic working from home still remains a reality for many workers with noticeable impacts on the mental health of people. With the increased stress caused by current situation and the harder time establishing boundaries there was an increase in the overall stress and fatigue in workers, leading to burnouts. Fatigue detection systems are used in several areas, mainly in the automotive industry as a mean to decrease the number of accidents. This research started by approaching the Artificial Intelligence (AI) area and its domains, followed by a study of the current techniques used in order to predict fatigue. With the main ones utilising eye state, facial landmarks, electrocardiogram or heart rate. After a research into existing Fatigue detection systems was done in order to identify the strengths of solutions currently in the market, whether in the automotive industry or other applications. This thesis proposes the creation of a system able to detect fatigue in a user as well as warn him when fatigue levels increase. This system incorporates a webcam analysing the users face and performing eye state detection in order to calculate the percentage of the time the eyes are closed (PERCLOS). Heart rate data was also analysed and a model was developed in order to incorporate this data, the percentage of time the eyes are closed, the program the user has open and time of day in order to predict the level of fatigue. By combining these two different techniques this system can be more effective and more accurate in giving predictions of the level of fatigue. The review of literature showed that the conjunction of these two techniques in predicting fatigue is novelty. The developed system also contains integration with smartwatch technology in order to both harness heart rate data as well as communicate with the user via pop up notifications to inform him when fatigue levels get too high. The conclusion of this work is that eye state detection using Artificial Intelligence can achieve a high accuracy and be a reliable tool in identifying fatigue in an user. The combination of Heart Rate and PERCLOS allows the system to have a higher accuracy as well as not being completely reliant on one sensor. The creation of a fatigue prediction model was hindered by the lack of existent data in order to train a model, a problem that could be fixed with the adoption of the system in a broader scope.Durante a pandemia de Covid-19, houve um aumento notável na quantidade de trabalhadores remotos. No rescaldo da pandemia, trabalhar a partir de casa continua a ser uma realidade para muitos trabalhadores, com impactos visíveis na saúde mental das pessoas. Com o aumento do stresse causado pela situação atual e a dificuldade de estabelecer limites, houve um aumento do stresse geral e da fadiga dos trabalhadores, levando ao esgotamento. Os sistemas de detecção de fadiga são utilizados em diversas áreas, principalmente na indústria automobilística como forma de diminuir o número de acidentes. Este estudo começou por abordar a área de Inteligência Artificial (IA) e os seus domínios, seguida de um estudo das técnicas atuais utilizadas para prever a fadiga. Com os principais utilizando o estado dos olhos, pontos de referência faciais, eletrocardiograma ou frequência cardíaca. Depois foi feita uma pesquisa sobre os sistemas de detecção de fadiga existentes de forma a identificar os pontos fortes das soluções actualmente no mercado, quer seja na indústria automóvel ou outras aplicações. Esta dissertação propõe a criação de um sistema capaz de detectar fadiga num utilizador, bem como alertar quando os níveis de fadiga aumentam. Este sistema incorpora uma webcam que analisa a face do utilizador e realiza a detecção do estado dos olhos para calcular a percentagem de tempo em que os olhos estão fechados (PERCLOS). Os dados de frequência cardíaca também foram analisados e um modelo foi desenvolvido para incorporar estes dados, a percentagem de tempo que os olhos ficam fechados, o programa que o utilizador tem aberto e a hora do dia para prever o nível de fadiga. Ao combinar essas duas técnicas diferentes, este sistema pode ser mais eficaz e mais preciso em fornecer previsões do nível de fadiga. A revisão da literatura mostrou que a conjunção dessas duas técnicas na previsão da fadiga é novidade. O sistema desenvolvido também contém integração com a tecnologia smartwatch para aproveitar os dados da frequência cardíaca e comunicar com o utilizador por meio de notificações pop-up para informá-lo quando os níveis de fadiga se encontrarem altos. A conclusão deste trabalho é que a detecção do estado ocular usando Inteligência Artificial pode alcançar uma alta precisão e ser uma ferramenta confiável na identificação de fadiga num utilizador. A combinação da frequência cardíaca e PERCLOS permite que o sistema tenha maior precisão, além de não depender completamente de um unico sensor. A criação de um modelo de previsão de fadiga foi dificultada pela falta de dados existentes para treinar um modelo, problema que poderia ser colmatado com a adoção do sistema numa população maior

Chemical and biological synthesis of an engineered affinity protein

Protein engineering is na area of major interest for novel biotechnolgoical and biopharmaceutical applications. Several protein scaffolds have been explored as alternatives to antibodies and other affinity reagents. This work focuses on the detailed study of a previously selected protein domain for binding an important affinity ligand. This domain was produced chemically and biologically. The successfully produced protein by chemical synthesis was characterized through Mass Spectrometry and Circular Dichroism. To show the binding affinity for the target, several tests were performed, including binding tests after immobilization in a solid-support, MicroScale Thermophoresis (MST) and Multiparametric Surface Plasmon Resonance (MP-SPR). The biological production of the protein was performed by bacterial expression (in E. coli) and then purified. The expression of this domain was attempted alone or as a fusion protein with GFP. In the latter, BL21 Rosetta cells strain were used as expression host and the protein was purified by mixed-mode chromatography with the A4C7 synthetic ligand and by gel-filtration

Sistemas de automação e manutenção de edifícios: concepção dos sistemas de detecção e protecção contra incêndios de uma unidade industrial

Trabalho Final de Mestrado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia MecânicaO presente trabalho consiste na análise do funcionamento dos sistemas automáticos de detecção e extinção de incêndios de uma unidade industrial e dos sistemas de ventilação mais apropriados à protecção contra incêndios. São abordados os conceitos de fogo e de incêndio, nomeadamente a fenomenologia do fogo e os seus constituintes, passando pela caracterização da combustão e culminando nas fases de um incêndio. A temática da protecção contra incêndios, os meios de segurança activa e os métodos de extinção de incêndios são igualmente abordados, assim como a regulamentação em vigor que define os parâmetros em que um sistema de protecção contra incêndios é dimensionado. Os equipamentos de detecção e extinção de incêndios, em geral, bem como os detectores ópticos de fumo e por aspiração, os sistemas automáticos de extinção por água, a redes de incêndios armada (RIA) e os sistemas de abastecimento e bombagem de água para incêndios, em particular, foram analisados os seus dimensionamentos face à legislação vigente. A aplicação dos conceitos estudados a um caso de estudo é efectuada para o caso de uma unidade industrial, permitindo efectuar o dimensionamento de todos os sistemas que, de acordo com a legislação, seriam necessárias à respectiva protecção contra incêndio.Abstract: The present work consists in the analysis of the functioning of automatic fire detection and extinguishing fires of an industrial unit and ventilation systems most suitable to fire protection. Are approached concepts of heat and fire, in particular the phenomenology of fire and its constituents, the characterization of combustion and culminating in the stages of a fire. The issue of the fire protection, the active safety measures and methods of extinguishing fires are also discussed, as well as current regulations that define the parameters in which a fire protection system is dimensioned. Detection equipment and fire extinguishing, in general, as well as optical and vacuum smoke detectors, automatic fire extinguishing water systems, fire networks (RIA) and supply and water pumping systems for fire, in particular, were addressed and analyzed their sizing under the current legislation. The application of the studied concepts in a case study is carried out for a case of na industrial unit, allowing the design of all systems that according to the legislation would be necessary for its protection against fire

Contribution for the knowledge of mechanical characteristics of contaminated dune sand with gasoline

Portugal, country of the Southwest of the Europe, has extensive areas of granular lands constituted by sands of dunes that are located next to the coast. The unsustainable development of the society has lead to the intensive occupation of these lands. As consequence sometimes arise contaminated soils where are or can be built buildings or other structures. Therefore, this work presents some results of a group of classic tests in the ambit of the Soils Mechanics (identification, compaction, direct shear and oedometer), in the sense of acquiring sensibility concerning the way as these soils behave when they are contaminated with gasoline.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) - CECUBI

A colaboração e disseminação de informação como alavanca de mudança em CI : o Observatório de Ciência da Informação da U. Porto

O Observatório de Ciência da Informação da Universidade do Porto (OCIUPorto) é um projeto desenvolvido por estudantes no âmbito da Unidade Curricular de Gestão de Serviços de Informação, do 3º ano da Licenciatura em Ciência da Informação (LCI), constituindo-se anualmente equipas responsáveis pela sua gestão e melhoria contínua.Criado no ano letivo de 2006/2007, tem como objetivo monitorizar o percurso profissional, investigativo e formativo de cada alumnus, de modo a possibilitar a recolha e disponibilização de informação relativa ao percurso dos estudantes, garantindo a continuidade da ligação dos alumni à Universidade e à Ciência da Informação (CI) na U.Porto.O OCIUPorto pretende promover a comunicação entre os alumni, estudantes, corpo docente e investigador, instituições e empresas empregadoras, bem como acolhedoras de estágios e proponentes de projetos de dissertação, com o objetivo de dar a conhecer a área, promover e disseminar a produção científica, a organização e participação em eventos científicos e o espírito empreendedor e empresarial de estudantes e alumni.Tecnologicamente suportado pelo sistema de gestão de conteúdos Joomla!, está também presente nas redes sociais, procurando-se, assim, fomentar a capacidade colaborativa e potenciar a partilha e a comunicação por meio de uma fonte de informação única sobre a CI na U.Porto

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Evidence for the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to tau leptons with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for H → τ τ decays are presented, based on the full set of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC during 2011 and 2012. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 4.5 fb−1 and 20.3 fb−1 at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV respectively. All combinations of leptonic (τ → `νν¯ with ` = e, µ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ν) tau decays are considered. An excess of events over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.5 (3.4) standard deviations. This excess provides evidence for the direct coupling of the recently discovered Higgs boson to fermions. The measured signal strength, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, of µ = 1.43 +0.43 −0.37 is consistent with the predicted Yukawa coupling strength in the Standard Model

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02