TESTING CAPITAL ASSET PRICING MODEL FOR ROMANIAN CAPITAL MARKET

The purpose of this article is the empirical testing of Capital Asset Pricing Model(CAPM) for the Romanian capital market, both for individual assets and for portfolios, using asample of daily data for 24 companies listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange, during the period06.01.2003 - 31.07.2009, following the interpretation of results and usefulness of the modelestimates. My intention is to find if the relationship between expected return and risk is linear, ifbeta is a complete measure of the risk and if a higher risk is compensated by a higher expectedreturn. The results confirm that the intercept is statistically insignificant, upholding theory, for bothindividual assets and portfolios. The tests do not necessarily provide evidence against CAPM,however other simulations can be built, more close to reality, improving the model and offering analternative which also takes into account the specific conditions of local capital market and theglobal financial crisis consequences.Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), beta, risk free rate, risk premium, expected return

Patient data discovery platforms as enablers of biomedical and translational research: a systematic review

Background: The global shift from paper health records to electronic ones has led to an impressive growth of biomedical digital data along the past two decades. Exploring and extracting knowledge from these data has the potential to enhance translational research and lead to positive outcomes for the population’s health and healthcare. Obective: The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review to identify software platforms that enable discovery, secondary use and interoperability of biomedical data. Additionally, we aim evaluating the identified solutions in terms of clinical interest and main healthcare-related outcomes. Methods: A systematic search of the scientific literature published and indexed in Pubmed between January 2014 and September 2018 was performed. Inclusion criteria were as follows: relevance for the topic of bio- medical data discovery, English language, and free full text. To increase the recall, we developed a semi-auto- matic and incremental methodology to retrieve articles that cite one or more of the previous set. Results: A total number of 500 candidate papers were retrieved through this methodology. Of these, 85 were eligible for abstract assessment. Finally, 37 studies qualified for a full-text review, and 20 provided enough information for the study objectives. Conclusions: This study revealed that biomedical discovery platforms are both a current necessity and a sig- nificantly innovative agent in the area of healthcare. The outcomes that were identified, in terms of scientific publications, clinical studies and research collaborations stand as evidence.publishe

Desenvolvimento de um sistema de visão para robôs humanoides

Mestrado em Engenharia Electrónica e Telecomunicaçõe

Knowledge maps as support tool for managing scientific competences: a case study at a portuguese research institute

In a research organization, finding someone who is an expert in a field and that can take up a given role, defining areas of excellence, or employing a new member all require understanding the competences that are available in-house. This work explores the idea of using knowledge or competence maps as support tools for managing scientific competences. We implemented a use case at the Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering of Aveiro, a research institute at the University of Aveiro, but the methodology we proposed can be adapted to virtually any research organization. Knowledge maps are visual representations of information that can be designed with variable granularities with respect to the knowledge assets of an organization. From a research management perspective, knowledge maps support the discovery of research competences and provide an instant overview of a topic by showing the main areas at a glance. This solution explored in this work employed data mining approaches for gathering information from public databases and presenting it using knowledge maps. Other visualization tools, such as bar graphs, tables, filters and search functionalities, were created and integrated into a web platform. When put together, these components could turn the platform into a key component for the administration of a research organization.publishe

Systematic review of question answering over knowledge bases

Over the years, a growing number of semantic data repositories have been made available on the web. However, this has created new challenges in exploiting these resources efficiently. Querying services require knowledge beyond the typical user’s expertise, which is a critical issue in adopting semantic information solutions. Several proposals to overcome this dif- ficulty have suggested using question answering (QA) systems to provide user‐friendly interfaces and allow natural language use. Because question answering over knowledge bases (KBQAs) is a very active research topic, a comprehensive view of the field is essential. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of methods and systems for KBQAs to identify their main advantages and limitations. The inclusion criteria rationale was English full‐text articles published since 2015 on methods and systems for KBQAs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MANAGEMENT OF CANINE TRANSPOSITION. CLINICAL CASE

Universitatea de Stat de Medicină şi Farmacie „Nicolae Testemiţanu”, Chişinău, Republica MoldovaIntroducere. Transpoziția dentară este o anomalie cu prevalență scăzută (0.33%) definită ca o perturbare a poziției eruptive, o interschimbare a poziției a doi dinți adiacenți, care poate fi completă sau incompletă. Transpoziția canină unilaterală este cea mai frecventă (79%), iar persistența dinților temporari drept cauză a acesteia se întâlnește în 18% din cazuri. Opțiuni de tratament: redresare ortodontică a dintelui transpoziționat, extracționist protetic, alinierea dinților în ordinea transpoziției cu remodelare morfo-funcțională. Scopul lucrării. Redresarea ortodontică a caninului transpoziționat. Material și metode. Pacienta B.O, 11 ani s-a adresat din motive estetice. Evaluarea a inclus date clinice (dentițea mixtă, prezența d. 63 cu rol de menținător biologic al spațiului) și paraclinice (fotometria, studiu biometric de model, explorări radiologice - TRG, OPG, CBCT). Diagnostic: Malocluzie clasa I după Angle, tip normodivergent, transpoziție completă a d. 23, tortopoziția d.24. devierea centrului estetic superior spre stînga. Rezultate. Valoarea estetico-funcțională a caninului și situația clinică concretă ne-a permis selectarea metodei de tratament prin redresare ortodontică a dintelui transpoziționat. S-a inițiat tratament ortodontic cu aparat fix cu bracketuri slot .022 inch. După alinierea și nivelarea arcadelor dentare: extracția d. 63, mezializarea d. 23 cu ajutorul unui cantilever și detalizări ocluzale pentru reabilitare morfofuncțională completă a aparatului dento maxilar. Tratamentul a durat 2,5 ani. Contenție cu dispozitiv fix și mobilizabil pe termen mediu. Concluzii. Selectarea opțiunilor de tratament, prevede analiza detaliată a subiectului, cu selectarea a metodei raționale de reabilitare morfofuncțională a aparatului dento-maxilar, ținându-se cont de mai mulți factori, cum ar fi: complianța pacientului, estetica, funcția și vârsta pacientului.Background. Dental transposition is a rare anomaly (0.33%) characterized by a disturbance in the eruption position, involving the interchange of positions between two adjacent teeth, either completely or partially. Unilateral canine transposition is the most common form (79%), and the persistence of deciduous teeth accounts for its occurrence in 18% of cases. Treatment options include orthodontic correction of the transposed tooth, extraction followed by prosthodontics, and alignment of the teeth based on the transposition sequence with morpho-functional remodeling. Objective of the study. Orthodontic correction of the transposed canine. Material and methods. Patient B.O., 11 years old, sought treatment for aesthetic reasons. The evaluation encompassed clinical data (mixed dentition, presence of tooth 63 as a biological space maintainer) and paraclinical data (photometry, biometric analysis on study models, radiological explorations- TRG, OPG, CBCT). Diagnosis: Angle class I malocclusion, normodivergent type, complete transposition of tooth 23, torsiversion of tooth 24, deviation of the upper aesthetic center to the left. Results. The aesthetic and functional value of the canine, along with the specific clinical situation, led us to choose the orthodontic correction as the treatment method for the transposed tooth. Orthodontic treatment was initiated using a fixed appliance with 0.022-inch slot brackets. After aligning and leveling of the dental arches, tooth 63 was extracted, and tooth 23 was mesialized using a cantilever, followed by occlusal refinements to achieve complete morpho-functional rehabilitation of the dento-maxillary apparatus. The treatment lasted 2.5 years, with medium-term retention using both fixed and removable appliances. Conclusion. The selection of treatment options requires a detailed analysis of the patient, taking into consideration factors such as compliance, aesthetics, function, and age. It is crucial to choose a rational method for morpho-functional rehabilitation of the dento-maxillary apparatus

Deteção de objetos coloridos em robôs inteligentes com restrições temporais

Doutoramento em InformáticaObject detection in digital images with small computational costs and processing time is a necessity of some of the most diverse domains, such as: robotics, video surveillance or traffic analysis, among others. With current advances in technology and the decrease of prices in image sensors and video cameras, nowadays digital cameras can acquire images at high resolutions and frame rates. This means that a great amount of visual information has to be processed in a small amount of time. This Ph.D. addresses the problem of time-constrained detection of colored objects and uses as a test bed intelligent robots that play soccer in an autonomous manner. This work is integrated in the Intelligent Robotics and Systems Laboratory from the Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering of Aveiro of University of Aveiro. The autonomous robotic soccer team CAMBADA was the test bed of all the work developed during this Ph.D. The objective was to present a modular solution of a vision system that could be used for time-constrained color detection in the aforementioned robotic project. Algorithms for colormetric camera calibration, optimal image scanning and colored blob formation have been designed and based on them functional robotic vision systems have been developed. These vision systems have been used in real adversarial soccer scenarios and the results obtained prove their efficiency. Moreover, all the developed algorithms and software have been aggregated within a computer vision library, which is both free and open source and designed for time-constrained colored object detection. In addition, several support tools have been implemented as well, as tools for remote monitoring or color calibration of a robotic vision system.A detecção de objetos em imagem digital com baixo custo computacional e tempo de processamento é uma necessidade de várias áreas de investigação, como por exemplo: robótica, vigilância por vídeo ou análise de trânsito. Com os mais recentes avanços da tecnologia e o decréscimo nos preços dos sensores e das câmaras digitais, hoje em dia as câmaras podem adquirir imagens com resoluções e taxas de aquisição bastante elevadas. Isso significa que uma grande quantidade de informação tem que ser processada num intervalo de tempo muito curto. Este trabalho de doutoramento está focado no problema da detecção de objetos coloridos, com restrições temporais, e usa como plataforma de teste robôs inteligentes que jogam futebol de uma forma autónoma. O trabalho está integrado no laboratório de Robôs e Sistemas Inteligentes do Instituto de Engenharia Electrónica e Informática da Universidade de Aveiro. A equipa de futebol robótico CAMBADA foi utilizada como plataforma de teste de todo o trabalho desenvolvido neste doutoramento. O objetivo era apresentar uma solução modular para um sistema de visão que pudesse ser usado pelos robôs da equipa CAMBADA para detecção de objetos coloridos, com restrições temporais. Foram desenvolvidos algoritmos para a calibração colormetrica da câmara, optimização da pesquisa numa imagem e formação de manchas de cor e com base neles construiram-se sistemas de visão que pudessem ser usados pelos mesmos robôs. Estes sistemas de visão foram usados em ambientes competitivos de futebol robótico e os resultados obtidos provam a sua eficiência. Além disso, todos os algoritmos e software desenvolvidos foram agregados numa biblioteca de visão por computador, de acesso livre e sem custos, que fora desenvolvida para a detecção com restrições temporais de objetos coloridos. Foram desenvolvidas também várias ferramentas para a monitorização remota e a calibração de um sistema de visão robótico

Examination of Parental Self-Efficacy and Their Beliefs About the Outcomes of Their Parenting Practices

In this study, we examined parental self-efficacy (PSE) in light of Bandura’s distinction between efficacy expectations and outcome expectations, and their links to parenting practices. We used a sample of 968 parents of children aged 11 to 18 years and examined the factor structure of items measuring PSE and parents’ outcome expectations, as well as the links between these two cognitive aspects and parenting practices. The results suggested that PSE and our measure of parents’ outcome expectations constituted two distinct factors and were not part of the same overall factor. Additionally, the analyses showed that PSE might be seen as a unidimensional construct with multidimensional aspects and was more strongly linked to parenting practices than were parents’ outcome expectations. In general, this study offers a comprehensive model of two different parental cognitive mechanisms as antecedents of parenting behaviors in different developmental periods

Blind Image Quality Assessment with Deep Learning: A Replicability Study and Its Reproducibility in Lifelogging

The wide availability and small size of different types of sensors have allowed for the acquisition of a huge amount of data about a person’s life in real time. With these data, usually denoted as lifelog data, we can analyze and understand personal experiences and behaviors. Most of the lifelog research has explored the use of visual data. However, a considerable amount of these images or videos are affected by different types of degradation or noise due to the non-controlled acquisition process. Image Quality Assessment can plays an essential role in lifelog research to deal with these data. We present in this paper a twofold study on the topic of blind image quality assessment. On the one hand, we explore the replication of the training process of a state-of-the-art deep learning model for blind image quality assessment in the wild. On the other hand, we present evidence that blind image quality assessment is an important pre-processing step to be further explored in the context of information retrieval in lifelogging applications. We consider that our efforts have been successful in the replication of the model training process, achieving similar results of inference when compared to the original version, while acknowledging a fair number of assumptions that we had to consider. Moreover, these assumptions motivated an extensive additional analysis that led to significant insights on the influence of both batch size and loss functions when training deep learning models in this context. We include preliminary results of the replicated model on a lifelogging dataset, as a potential reproducibility aspect to be considered