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- A novel approach to assess balneotherapy effects on musculoskeletal diseases - an open interventional trial combining physiological indicators, biomarkers, and patients’ health perceptionPublication . Silva, Jani; Martins, José; Nicomédio, Cristina; Gonçalves, Catarina; Palito, Cátia; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Fernandes, Paula Odete; Nunes, Alcina; Alves, Maria JoséThe present study aimed to evaluate whether a 14-day period of balneotherapy influences the inflammatory status, health-related quality of life (QoL) and quality of sleep, underlying overall health state, and clinically relevant benefits of patients with musculoskeletal diseases (MD). The health-related QoL was evaluated using the following instruments: 5Q-5D-5L, EQ-VAS, EUROHIS-QOL, B-IPQ, and HAQ-DI. The quality of sleep was evaluated by a BaSIQS instrument. Circulating levels of IL-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured by ELISA and chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay, respectively. The smartband, Xiaomi MI Band 4, was used for real-time sensing of physical activity and sleep quality. MD patients improved the health-related QoL measured by 5Q-5D-5L (p < 0.001), EQ-VAS (p < 0.001), EUROHIS-QOL (p = 0.017), B-IPQ (p < 0.001), and HAQ-DI (p = 0.019) after balneotherapy; the sleep quality was also improved (BaSIQS, p = 0.019). Serum concentrations of IL-6 were markedly decreased after the 14-day balneotherapy (p < 0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed regarding the physical activity and sleep quality data recorded by the smartband. Balneotherapy may be an effective alternative treatment in managing the health status of MD patients, with a decrease in inflammatory states, along with positive effects on pain reduction, patient’s functionality, QoL, quality of sleep, and disability perception status.
- Accessibility of mobile applications for tourism - is equal access a reality?Publication . Madeira, Stephane; Branco, Frederico; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Au-Yong-Oliveira, Manuel; Moreira, Fernando; Martins, JoséWith the increasing use of smartphones in people’s daily lives, mobile accessibility has become a key factor for them. Tourism is one of the sectors that has benefited the most from this growth but has not yet reached its full potential as accessibility has not yet been fully exploited. The main goal of this study is to assess accessibility in mobile applications for the tourism sector. Thus, 14 mobile applications were analyzed, using a manual and automatic methodology through the proposal of an evaluation model divided by quantitative and qualitative requirements, as well as the use of features such as VoiceOver and TalkBack. The results show a high overall number of errors in most quantitative requirements as well as non-compliance with most qualitative requirements. On iPhone 4, “Viseu – Guia da Cidade” was the application with the highest rating, while on Wiko GOA, it was the “JiTT.Travel Funchal” application. In turn, on iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone XR, Nokia 5.1 and OnePlus 6 devices, the best results were achieved by the “Viseu – Guia da Cidade,” “JiTT.Travel Funchal” and “TUR4all” applications. Regarding the accessibility of mobile applications on different versions of the same mobile operating system, it was concluded that there are no differences in their accessibility on both operating systems (iOS and Android). Finally, regarding the accessibility of applications on smartphones with different screen sizes, there are also no differences in their accessibility.
- BHiveSense: An integrated information system architecture for sustainable remote monitoring and management of apiaries based on IoT and microservicesPublication . Cota, Duarte; Martins, José; Mamede, Henrique; Branco, FredericoPrecision Beekeeping, a field of Precision Agriculture, is an apiary management strategy based on monitoring honeybee colonies to promote more sustainable resource usage and maximise productivity. The approach related to Precision Beekeeping is based on methodologies to mitigate the stress associated with human intervention in the colonies and the waste of resources. These goals are achieved by supporting the intervention and managing the beekeeper’s timely and appropriate action at the colony’s level. In recent years, the growth of IoT (Internetof-Things) in Precision Agriculture has spurred several proposals to contribute to the paradigm of Precision Beekeeping, built on different technical concepts and with different production costs. This work proposes and describes an information systems architecture concept named BHiveSense, based on IoT and microservices, and different artefacts to demonstrate its concept: (1) a low-cost COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) hive sensing prototype, (2) a REST backend API, (3) a Web application, and (4) a Mobile application. This project delivers a solution for a more integrated and sustainable beekeeping activity. Our approach stresses that by adopting microservices and a REST architecture, it is possible to deal with long-standing problems concerning interoperability, scalability, agility, and maintenance issues, delivering an efficient beehive monitoring system.
- Assessing the success behind the use of education management information systems in higher educationPublication . Martins, José; Branco, Frederico; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Oliveira, Manuel Au-Yong; Oliveira, Tiago; Naranjo-Zolotov, Mijail; Cruz-Jesus, FredericoThe continuous use of dynamic and disruptive ICT as energizing elements of the educational process is a reality of current days, where millennials are the centre of an education paradigm in which students are much more inclined to use technologies than enrolling in a traditional non-digital course. Considering education management information systems (EMIS) capacities to collect, analyse, process and publish information and data, it is easy to perceive their relevance to both education organizations and students. Nevertheless, and despite EMIS complexity and inherent possibilities, the existing literature does not provide for a detailed characterization on the impact these systems might have on students’ success. Thus, this research focuses on understanding the use of EMIS by students and the arising of net benefits; it introduces an EMIS success model which posits that to ensure net benefits for students, education institutions must safeguard that their education management information systems are of high quality, while at the same time students are maintained satisfied with the system and engage in continuous use. To assess the posed model, an empirical study has been performed, involving students from higher education institutions. Findings from the study allow us to perceive that, as information systems (IS) success models state, EMIS use and students’ satisfaction are predictors of net benefits. This same model also claims that the available information quality and EMIS inherent service quality are also strong determinants of both continuous EMIS use and student satisfaction.
- A flow-based intrusion detection framework for internet of things networksPublication . Santos, Leonel; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Rabadão, Carlos; Martins, JoséThe application of the Internet of Things concept in domains such as industrial control, building automation, human health, and environmental monitoring, introduces new privacy and security challenges. Consequently, traditional implementation of monitoring and security mechanisms cannot always be presently feasible and adequate due to the number of IoT devices, their heterogeneity and the typical limitations of their technical specifications. In this paper, we propose an IP flow-based Intrusion Detection System (IDS) framework to monitor and protect IoT networks from external and internal threats in real-time. The proposed framework collects IP flows from an IoT network and analyses them in order to monitor and detect attacks, intrusions, and other types of anomalies at different IoT architecture layers based on some flow features instead of using packet headers fields and their payload. The proposed framework was designed to consider both the IoT network architecture and other IoT contextual characteristics such as scalability, heterogeneity, interoperability, and the minimization of the use of IoT networks resources. The proposed IDS framework is network-based and relies on a hybrid architecture, as it involves both centralized analysis and distributed data collection components. In terms of detection method, the framework uses a specification-based approach drawn on normal traffic specifications. The experimental results show that this framework can achieve & 100% success and 0% of false positives in detection of intrusions and anomalies. In terms of performance and scalability in the operation of the IDS components, we study and compare it with three different conventional IDS (Snort, Suricata, and Zeek) and the results demonstrate that the proposed solution can consume fewer computational resources (CPU, RAM, and persistent memory) when compared to those conventional IDS.
- Qualitative analysis of virtual reality adoption by tourism operators in low-density regionsPublication . Martins, José; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Oliveira, Manuel Au-Yong; Moreira, Fernando; Branco, FredericoVirtual reality technologies have grown in complexity and functionality, increasing their relevance in various sectors of activity. Applying these innovations to tourism is advantageous for the organisations, the tourists and even the territories. They can provide multisensory immersivity, simulate actions and movements in real-time, enriching reality using interactive virtual objects. Thus, captivating visitors and showing territories from richer and livelier perspectives. This study describes a review of the adoption of virtual reality technology at the organisational level. In order to adapt the literature review to the tourism topic, the process of analysis of the literature was carried out with a constant concern to analyse research that studied the topic. Assuming the need to further develop the work done and to obtain a confirmation on the contribution resulting from the bibliographic review, a focus group was developed, which allowed several specialists to discuss collaboratively and interactively the research project topics without having to be in face-to-face contact. The results of this study allow not only to acknowledge the relevance of virtual reality for tourism but also to understand how the existing literature and experts are aligned with the identification of opportunities for disruptive development of solutions that trigger tourism destinations and organisational development.
- The impact of digital influencers on product/service purchase decision making—An exploratory case study of Portuguese peoplePublication . Caiado, Fábio; Fonseca, Joana; Silva, Joana; Neves, Soraia; Moreira, Ana; Gonçalves, Ramiro; Martins, José; Branco, Frederico; Au‐Yong‐Oliveira, ManuelThe growing use of technology and social media has resulted in the emergence of digital influencers, a new profession capable of changing the mentalities and behaviours of those who follow them. This study arises to better understand the potential impact digital influencers might have on the Portuguese population's purchase behaviour and patterns, and for this purpose, seven hypotheses were formulated. An online questionnaire was conducted to respond to these theoretical assumptions and collected data from 175 respondents. A total of 129 valid answers were considered. It was possible to conclude that purchase intention does not necessarily translate into a purchase action. It was also concluded that the relationship between social network use and the purchase of products/services recommended by influencers is only statistically significant for Instagram. Furthermore, the individuals' generation is not statistically significant / linked with purchasing a product/service recommended by influencers. Yet further, a small percentage of respondents have also identified themselves as impulsive shoppers and perceived Instagram as their favourite social network. With the results of this study, it is also possible to state that the influencer's opinion was classified as the last factor considered in the purchase decision process. Additionally, there is a weak negative association between purchasing a product/ service recommended by influencers with sponsorship disclosure and remunerated partnership, which decreases credibility and discourages purchasing, in Portugal, a feminine culture which dislikes materialism.
- An integrated information systems architecture for the agri‐food industryPublication . Branco, Frederico; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Moreira, Fernando; Au-Yong-Oliveira, Manuel; Martins, JoséAs information systems and technologies grow in usage in the agri-food industry, thesame has happened to the relevance of Information Systems (IS) that allow for aparallel control, monitoring and management of the organizations' activities and busi-ness processes. As the literature proves, the benefits of implementing adequate andinteroperable IS are very numerous and tend to represent a significant determinantregarding the organizations' overall success. Despite this, to the best of our knowl-edge there currently is no IS architecture designed to serve the specificities of theagri-food industry. With this study a novel information systems architecture for theagri-food sector is proposed. The artefact is composed by 12 integrated main compo-nents and a set of subcomponents aimed at supporting all the monitoring, controland management activities. In order to validate the proposed architecture a casestudy was implemented at a mushroom production organization. This allowed us toperceive the ability of our artefact to serve as the basis for the development of ISthat address all of the organization's business and environmental needs.
- Digital marketing’s impact on rural destinations’ image, intention to visit, and destination sustainabilityPublication . Rodrigues, Sónia; Correia, Ricardo; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Branco, Frederico; Martins, JoséThe relevance of the tourism industry to the overall sustainability of rural territories grows along with the demand for rural tourism destinations. Likewise, as the digital transition of rural tour operators takes place, their marketing initiatives also evolve towards a digital nature, which is why it is crucial to comprehend how the overall calibre of these activities might affect the perception of rural places, while also motivating tourists’ travel intentions and, as a result, promoting the general sustainability of the destination. Thus, in this paper, we propose a novel conceptual model based on Delone and McLean’s representative model of Information Systems Success Model, on Tan and Wu’s arguments on tourism destinations’ image relationship with tourists’ visit intentions, and also on Verma’s tourism destination brand equity concept. To validate the proposed model, an online focus group was developed involving several specialists whose opinions and perspectives corroborated the potential adequacy of the proposed artefact and, consequently, assumed its contribution and value. From this validation process, it was possible to highlight that digital marketing initiatives’ overall quality influences both rural destinations’ image and tourists’ intention to visit these territories, that a positive image will trigger tourists’ visit behaviour, and that these behaviours represent a valuable asset to rural destinations’ global sustainability
- Accessible software development: a conceptual model proposalPublication . Silva, João Sousa e; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Branco, Frederico; Pereira, António Manuel; Oliveira, Manuel Au-Yong; Martins, JoséEqual access to all software and digital content should be a reality in the Digital Era. This argument is something defended both by existing regulations, norms and standards, and also business organizations and governments. Despite this acknowledgement, the reality is still far from the desired equality. For certain groups of disabled or impaired citizens, such as the visually impaired, the existence of e-accessibility compliance represents an opportunity to integrate, in a more simple and straightforward manner, their societies. Despite the existing poor results on e-accessibility compliance, the mentioned citizens insist on using digital devices in their daily lives. Even though, in the last decade, multiple standards and regulations have been published towards indicating how to develop accessible digital user interfaces, there are still two major issues surrounding its implementation: the complexity and disparity of the documents containing the abovementioned norms, and also the lack of e-accessibility know-how by software experts. With this in mind, a proposal for an accessible software development model that encompasses e-accessibility incorporation as one of the development process activities has been presented. This model might represent a very interesting support tool for software development organizations and a novel resource for learning and training institutions to be able to improve their computer science and informatics students’ skills on e-accessibility.
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